Uneasy Lies The Head: Golden Nights Sage: Book II
by CJ Moliere
Summary: After thirty years Rumplestitlskin the reigning Sultan of Azarajan is ready to step aside and name his son Rolando his successor but when the new sultan began to undo all his father's achievements and terrorizes their people they find new champions in Rumple and Belle's daughter Raihana and a mild mannered gypsy named Jiminy. Sequel to 1001 Golden Nights
1. Worth His Weight In Gold

It was the thirtieth anniversary of the sultan's reign and the task of planning his celebration was now in the hands of his beloved sultana Belle. The sultana was nervous. In previous years his celebration plans had been the responsibility of the Sultan Valide, his mother Tatiana. The Valide passed away in her sleep during the winter and Belle knew she had large slippers to fill.

This would also be Rumplestiltskin's final year as sultan for he planned to pass the crown to his son Rolando on the prince's twentieth birthday. Changing the laws and letting his heir take the throne while he still lived was a bold move on Rumple's part but he had faith his son could rule Azarajan as justly as he did in the thirty years he wore the crown. The kingdom flourished under Rumple's reign and he wanted it to stay that way. Many of the people however, were apprehensive and felt Prince Rolando would not be the great sultan that his father was when he did not connect with them on a more personal level than his father, mother and even his sister Raihana did.

It was summer and the rest of the family was at the second palace Serenity while Rolando and his betrothed Drizella stayed at the main palace Arcadia to prepare for the day when they would take the thrones. Belle was looking forward to ascending to the position of Valide so that she could remind her upstart future daughter-in-law just who ruled the harem. Neither she nor Rumple liked the girl and expressed their concerns to their son about her unsuitability for the position as sultana but he refused to believe any of it, he loved her dearly. Like her predecessor, Belle believed she would have to resort to schemes to get an unwanted kadin out of her son's harem. She didn't like it, but like Tatiana, she would do what she had to try to protect her child.

She put aside any plans she had for ousting Drizella from the harem for the time being and concentrated on the upcoming anniversary. Tatiana always made it a lavish affair, inviting the rulers of all the realms to attend and celebrate with the sultan and people from all over the kingdom flocked to the capital city to see their savior, for that was what the sultan was to them in their eyes. They suffered greatly during the Dark Years, which was how they referred to the late Zozo's reign and when the kingdoms of Agrabah and Avonlea waged war on them, it was the sultan and his forces that emerged the victors.

Belle, the former princess of Avonlea arrived with her father to become part of Rumple's harem but contrary to popular belief, the sultan treated the young women brought to his harem as daughters. His two wives, Cora and Milah were executed for treason on the orders of the valide for attempting to assassinate the sultan. At first Belle's father Maurice was involved in a plot with the former Agrabah vizier Jafar to overthrow and kill Rumplestiltskin making Belle the bait for their trap but after he saw how much his daughter grew to love the sultan and she loved him, he confessed all to the valide and worked with her to capture Jafar and his other conspirator, Killian Jones, a former lover of Milah's. They had Belle abducted from the palace and Jones tossed her into the sea while she was under the influence of sleeping drug. The sultan dived in after her and with the help of his adopted son and captain of the guard Baelfire, they got the sultana to safety. Jones was defeated in battle by Emma, Baelfire's lover and as fierce a warrior as he was. Both men were taken to the prison known as the Dark Castle. Jafar was beheaded and Killian Jones's death was a slow and agonizing one from the pox.

Everyone assembled in the grand dining room of the palace to discuss ideas for the celebration, the Sultana Jasmine and her consort Aladdin from Argabah and Queen Anastasia and King Will from Wonderland also in attendance along with the officers of the royal guard, called back from their posts.

"Why don't we bring back an old tradition Mama, the weight in gold?" Princess Raihana suggested. Her mother smiled.

"That's a wonderful idea poppet. The gold we weigh out can be distributed to the people!" the sultana cried.

"My lady sultana, the sultan does not weigh that much," Emma pointed out.

"Nor have past sultans before him dear but we add weights to the scale so we can add more gold," Belle explained. "The sultan is a generous man and will not settle for a small sum to be distributed."

Baelfire was grinning. "We can add a lot to his side of the scale Mama, believe me."

"It is settled then. The weighing will become part of the celebration."

"May I suggest something else, my lady sultana?" asked David, husband of the sultan's adopted daughter Snow.

"By all means."

"A commemorative coin with your images. Many of the crowned heads of the realms have one but the sultan does not and I feel he should since he has done so much for this realm."

"How long would it take to have such a coin struck?" she inquired of the royal treasurer.

"We will begin work immediately my lady sultana and have the coins ready to present during the celebrations."

"Excellent. Every person who attends must have one. They may keep it if they wish or use it to purchase the essentials for their families."

There were also plans to construct a new caravan to carry the sultan and his kadin through the crowd to the platform where he would sit during the festivities. The platforms background would be made of the finest Azarajan silks with the sultan's symbol woven into the fabric. Though he now ruled a country, he never forgot his humble beginnings as spinner and weaver and a rose would serve as the sultan's symbol.

"We could close the ceremony with something from my land, my lady sultana," spoke up Mulan. "They are called fireworks and they light up the sky in beautiful colors and patterns."

"Wonderful! Are you able to find someone who can create these fireworks?"

"I can, my lady sultana and perhaps one of the patterns can be the sultan's wheel."

"Oh he'll love that! See if it can be done and we shall make it the close of the ceremony!"

The sultana also sent word to troupes of actors that she wanted them to put on a play chronicling the highlights of Rumple's reign, a clan of gypsies was hired to do a puppet show for the children of the realms. There would also be dancing with music provided by the royal orchestra and no ceremony was complete without story time with the sultana. She would tell the sultan's story in a way the children would enjoy while the adults watched the play.

Several times in the weeks prior to the ceremony, the sultan attempted to wheedle details about the festivities out of his wife but she refused to speak a word of them and the others were sworn to secrecy as well.

"You will not be disappointed my love, I can assure you of that," she said softly one evening while they relaxed in the bath.

"Not even a hint?" he murmured, nuzzling her neck.

"Not even a hint."

"Perhaps you need a bit more convincing…"

His lips lingered on the base of her throat and he pulled her closer and caressed her softy.

"Maybe….maybe not…" She was having difficulty trying to keep her composure when his touch made her burn. While other sultans before him quickly grew bored with their wives and sought another or an endless supply of concubines, there had never been another woman for Rumple but his beloved Belle. She'd given him three beautiful children and both of them were devastated when their second son Maurice was taken in a plague that swept through the realm ten years earlier along with so many others. The sultan had a memorial constructed to honor those lost in the plague when the kingdom was free from the disease.

"Shall we continue this discussion in our bedchamber, my kadin?"he purred.

"We may but my lips remain sealed Rumplestiltskin unless you have a better use for them."

"Indeed I do, my kadin. Indeed I do."

Later on as she lay in his arms she couldn't deny that she was pleased their son would soon take the throne. She was looking forward to the two of them spending the rest of their days away from the political intrigue and relaxing at Serenity.

The bells began to ring at dawn in the holy temple the day of the celebration, waking the kingdom from its slumber to remind them of the special day ahead, not just for the sultan but all of Azarajan.

The royal couple was attired in their finest robes and escorted out to the golden caravan by members of the guard. A detail of twenty of the strongest men lifted the caravan up and carried it to the city square as the crowd cheered and people craned their necks to get a glimpse of their sultan.

"Long live the Sultan. Long live the Sultana!" they cheered.

Servants stood at the side of the caravan and unrolled a red velvet carpet for the royal couple that led to their thrones on the platform, Baelfire standing on Rumple's side, Emma on Belle's. Their children sat on thrones beside theirs, the future sultana looking bored. Once the sultan was seated, Belle rose from her throne and addressed the crowd.

"People of Azarajan," she called out. "Today is a special day as we celebrate thirty years of peace and prosperity with our sultan, Rumplestiltskin! We invite you all to join in the festivities and we will have wonderful gifts for all of you to thank you for your loyalty to us and hope that you will join us for future celebrations as our son ascends to the throne in the following months. Once again, thank you…and let the celebration begin!"

The members of the royal guard marched to the base of the platform and formed two lines.

"In honor of your thirtieth year as our lord, we the officers of your royal guard salute you with this bridge of swords, a symbol of stability and security! Form the bridge!" Emma commanded.

The officers drew their swords and crossed them over their heads. Rumple rose to his feet and clapped. "Well done, dearies. Well done!" he praised.

The soldiers bowed and stepped aside as representatives from the temple of the goddess moved forward.

"My lord," the high priestess greeted. The sultan returned her bow as a sign of respect to a servant of the goddess. "We bring you our blessings on behalf of Selene our Mother." They opened their hands and flock of white doves flew into the air. "May your winter years be ones of peace and tranquility!"

"I thank you for your blessings my lady and wish the same for you and all the sons and daughters of our blessed Mother."

"Bring the scale!" Belle commanded.

A large cart was wheeled into the city square with a giant gold scale upon it. Rumple smiled. The last time he'd seen it was when he was a small child barely out of his nappies and he and his mother stood in the crowd among thousands of others watching the Sultan Omar stand on one of the scales while gold was piled on the other. The sultan kept calling for more weight to be added to his side to match the gold being piled on the other. When the ceremony was over, his mother was given six gold coins that she used to purchase her son's first spinning wheel.

"Some of you may recall that during the reign of Sultan Omar he would stand upon one of the scales, his weight to be balanced with gold. Today we bring back that tradition. Step forward Rumplestiltskin and be weighed in gold for your people!"

Baelfire moved forward and helped the sultan onto his scale, the bottom of it rebuilt so that he could stand on it easily with his cane. The sultan's children and members of the royal household came forward with chests holding the commemorative coins and poured them onto the scale, opposite scale, raising the sultan's in the air.

"More weight!" he shouted. "I must have more weight!"

Twenty officers from the royal guard joined him on the scale with rocks in the pockets of their uniforms. The scales tipped again, the weight of the sultan and his army greater than the pile of gold.

"More gold!" he ordered. The scales tipped again yet they were not yet balanced as more coins were added. "My kadin, come join me and balance our scale!"

Emma helped Belle onto the scale and once she took her place at her husband's side, the scales were balanced.

"This bounty you see before you is not for me but for the people of Azarajan! Spend it wisely dearies!"

The officers of the guard packed the gold coins in the chests and circulated among the crowd, placing ten gold coins in the hand of every man and woman, young and old.

Rumple wrapped his arms around his wife and kissed her. "A wonderful idea, sweetheart, absolutely wonderful! I remembered this from my own childhood."

"You can thank our daughter. She suggested it. The play is about to start and it is story time." Belle said softly.

"Go on. The children enjoy your stories."

"Children of Azarajan, come join the sultana Belle in the blue tent for story time and then we will have the puppet show," Princess Raihana invited.

A herd of children cheered and flocked behind the princess as she escorted them to a blue tent. On the other side of it the gypsies were setting up for the puppet show.

There were pillows on the floor of the tent for the children to sit on while Belle told them her stories. Raihana smiled to herself, remembering how her mother once told her and her brothers those same stories while they were children, loving them so much they wanted to hear them again and again. Of course there were some details left out but they were not fit for young ears. The children lay down for a nap after the story was finished.

An hour later a gypsy named Jiminy tiptoed into the tent. "We're ready to start, my lady sultana," he whispered.

"Thank you. Give me a few minutes to wake everyone up."

Rumple was enjoying the play, the actors performing their roles to perfection. Once they finished, he called all of them up to the platform and handed each ten gold pieces, inviting them to perform at Serenity for him sometime.

The children loved the puppet show and once it was over Belle escorted the performers to the platform to meet the sultan.

"You too are more than welcome to perform for my grandchildren at Serenity," Rumple said and handed Jiminy, his father Geppetto and nephew Pinocchio ten gold pieces each.

"My liege…." the group was flabbergasted by the sultan's generosity.

"Spend them wisely, dearies."

"We will! Thank you my liege!" Jiminy exclaimed as he backed away, catching a glimpse at Princess Raihana before leaving. The young girl scoffed and turned her head away. He lowered his head, his cheeks crimson.

"Gypsies! I've heard they rob you blind!" she mumbled.

"Raihana! You will treat our people with the same respect as they treat us!" the sultan said sharply. Jiminy, having overheard her comment winced as if he were in pain.

"I'm sorry Papa."

"This heat is unbearable!" complained Drizella, fanning herself.

Rumple shook his head. His son would not have an easy life with that woman as his kadin. She reminded him too much of his previous wives, Cora and Milah. Still he wouldn't let his future daughter-in-law's complaints and his daughter's hostilities towards some of the people spoil his mood.

As the evening drew to a close Zuen Yi, the fireworks creator Mulan discovered approached the platform and bowed.

"My liege, in honor of your reign, I give you lights in the sky!"

The crowd gazed up in awe as the night sky was lit up in beautiful colors and patterns including peonies, strobes, diadems, palms, kamuros and finally a spinning wheel in gold accompanied by music from the royal orchestra. When the show was over, Rumple thanked the man and gave him his own gold pieces, inviting him to Serenity for another show.

"Are you going to miss all of this, my love?" Belle asked during the ride back to Serenity.

"I will miss the day to day interaction with the people but not the intrigue," he confessed. "I want to spend my remaining winter years with my family for there is where I am most happy." He kissed her. "Mother would be proud of you today, my kadin. This was the finest anniversary celebration."

"I love you Rumple."

"And I love you, my kadin."

She rested her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes. For her this was more than a celebration of a reign, it was also a celebration of their life together and she was looking forward to the years ahead.


	2. High Expectations

It was supposed to be a joyous occasion except the only people in the royal household who found any joy in the day ahead where Rolando, future sultan of Azarajan and his intended bride, Drizella. They were a couple very much in love, or so it seemed but the groom's parents had nagging doubts that their son was being manipulated by a woman who reminded Rumple a bit too much of his first two kadins, Cora and Milah. Both women lost their heads on the block for attempting to assassinate him and he hoped this Drizella was not foolish enough to try such a thing. Fortunately Belle was now Sultan Valide and the harem was under her control, little as the future sultana might like it.

Like her predecessor, Belle was not going to sit idly by and watch her son be made a fool of by his bride and began a search throughout the kingdom for a more suitable kadin. If that didn't work, she would make certain Rolando did not sire an heir on such a despicable woman and the girl would be carefully watched. She did not inform her husband of her plans knowing he would be upset with her as he was with his mother when she schemed behind his back. It was for her son's good and for the good of Azarajan. Tatiana would most assuredly approve.

Servants bowed to her as she walked down the halls, calling out "Good morning, my lady Valide." She was still getting accustomed to her new role as the valide and by all accounts she was also the youngest woman in Azarajan's history to hold the title since she was not yet fifty.

After a plague swept through the kingdom of Azarajan taking so many lives including Prince Maurice, the youngest child of Sultan Rumplestiltskin and his beloved kadin Belle, she believed her childbearing days were behind her and they would spend their remaining years preparing their eldest to take the throne. They were also looking forward to the grandchildren Rolando and Raihana would give them. The royal couple would look forward to seeing any heirs Rolando produced...as long as they weren't spawned from Drizella. She was a niece of Ashley's; one of the women who served the sultan and Belle and had a nasty disposition to everyone else but her future husband. His parents were hoping a more suitable bride could be found but had no success. Belle intended to use her position as valide to toss the harpy out on her backside much to her husband's delight. His mother's schemes during her tenure as valide often drove him mad but now he understood why she did them, especially when it came to his previous wives Cora and Milah. Both had gone to the block for treason but thankfully neither had produced any offspring. The valide had seen to that with the use of a potion.

The sultan was ecstatic the day Belle brought their twins into the world, first their heir Rolando followed an hour later by his sister Raihana. Rolando had been named in honor of the father Rumple never knew and Raihana's name in their language meant the scent of a rose. Little Maurice's birth was something of a surprise but his parents adored him as much as they adored his siblings and losing him devastated the family and the kingdom. He lived on now in portraits in the palaces and a monument in the city square dedicated to all the victims of the great plague.

Belle awoke on the day of her son's coronation overcome by nausea. She attributed it to her unease at his choice of a consort, her only consolation being that she was now the Sultan Valide and she was the second most powerful person in the kingdom, not Drizella. The girl delighted in baiting her but she would learn quickly that it was not wise to cross the valide. After all, Belle learned from the best. Few ever got the upper hand on the valide Tatiana.

"Belle, my sweetheart, do not distress yourself so," Rumple said gently. "You will find a more suitable kadin for our son. It will take some time but you will find one. Until then we must keep the peace as best we can."

"That will be difficult if that harpy baits me!"

Rumple chuckled. His kadin was a feisty one, he knew that from the day they met, an equal match to him, known then for being a beast when his mood was foul but his temperament was mild compared to that of his predecessor. She'd tamed him quite a bit in the years they were married but not to a point where anyone labeled him a weak ruler and she was never afraid to challenge his mother when she felt the valide's scheming was getting out of hand.

Rumple took his wife's hand and helped her to her feet. "Come. We must dress for the ceremony."

The royal couple was now comfortable enough to dress and undress in front of each other instead of using the changing screens as most royals did and without servants to assist them. As Belle was changing into her formal gown she frowned. "How is this possible? The seamstress measured me for this two months ago and it fit. Now it is tight around my middle. I will have to stop overindulging myself at dinner."

"You have been eating a little more than usual. Were we a bit younger I would think...but your moon cycles have stopped...haven't they?"

"My last was two months ago and I am approaching the age where I will no longer have them. It is my nerves I suppose...the coronation... my new duties..."

He took her hands in his and gazed into her eyes. "You will be as great a valide as Mother...with less scheming," he added with a grin. "Would you like me to send for Ashley and see if we can find a different gown?"

"No, I can wear this one but without the corset."

"Still we should have Regina examine you." He stepped out into the hall and stopped Thomas as the servant was on his way to the royal bedchamber to see if they were ready to leave. "Thomas will you bring the lady Regina to our chamber? The valide is a bit nauseated this morning."

Thomas raised an eyebrow. "Again? This is not good my liege. I will bring her right away!"

"And do not tell the sultan or his sister until we discover the cause of her malady. Understand?"

"Yes, my liege!" He scurried off.

Rumple helped his wife into bed while they waited for Regina. The worst of her nausea had subsided but she now had a terrible headache. She had just fallen asleep when Regina entered the bedchamber and ushered the nervous former sultan out of the room. He paced the floor as he waited for news, his gold cane tapping out a chaotic melody on the marble floor, the minutes feeling like hours. Finally the sorceress and healer opened the chamber door and motioned for him to enter. The valide was sitting up in their bed, her azure eyes wide with shock.

"Belle, my sweetheart, what is it?" he asked worriedly as he crossed over to the bed and took her into his arms.

"I...I don't know how but...I am with child Rumple," she said.

"I am as stunned as you are, my lady valide," Regina admitted.

"Are you angry my love?" Belle inquired.

"Why would I be? The goddess has given us this child to bring us joy during our winter years," Rumple said with a smile and kissed her. He'd been praying for years that the goddess would bless them with another child only to be disappointed when her moon cycle came. They became convinced that the next patter of little feet they would hear within the walls of their palaces would come from their grandchild. He placed his hand on her belly. "We shall call her Aminah if it is a girl or Ahyan if it is a boy. Does that please you, my kadin?"

"Gift from the goddess...they are perfect names Rumple! When will we make the announcement?"

"We will wait a week or so after the coronation before we make an official statement and inform the children this evening at dinner."

"I have a confession to make Rumple...I was praying to the goddess that she would bless us with another child before our winter years began and she has heard my prayers!"

"She has heard mine as well, my kadin. We have much to celebrate today...a new era of prosperity for Azarajan and a new addition to our family."

Having a child so late in life would require some adjustments but their royal duties had never taken precedence over their children unlike many other royal houses that entrusted the care of the children to governesses and nannies. Both Rumple and Belle had been raised by their parents and they agreed once the twins were born that they would follow their parents examples.

The bells in the holy temple began to ring throughout the city, signifying the beginning of a new day and a new era in the country's history, the first of Sultan Rolando. Rumple and Belle stepped out of the bedchamber to find Bae and Emma waiting for them wearing their official uniforms for the last time. The leaders of the royal guard had chosen to remain with Rumple and Belle and Rolando chose Felix, a young officer in Bae's regiment as his new general. The new captain of Emma's forces was a young lady named Bo, neither of them leaving a good impression on their predecessors.

"You are recovered from your malady, my lady valide?" Emma inquired, smirking.

The valide raised an eyebrow. "What is that look for?"

"Little escapes our notice, my lady valide. It is why this kingdom has been spared the threat of invasion for so many years. I cannot wait to see the look on that sow's face when you make the announcement."

"Hush! We haven't even told the twins yet!" Rumple hissed.

Bae chuckled and covered his ears with his hands. "I've heard nothing."

"Keep that in mind until later, Bae," Rumple warned.

Servants bowed to the royal couple as they walked by, many of them in tears. The sultan and the valide treated them more like family unlike the new sultan and his bride. A large majority of them had announced their plans to leave Arcadia once the coronation was over and continue to serve the former sultan and the valide at the Serenity palace. Emma helped the valide into the caravan while Bae assisted the sultan. Once they were inside, Rumple placed his hand on Belle's abdomen again.

"I cannot wait until we can hear the laughter of our own child in the halls of Serenity again. Our grandchildren do not visit as often as I would like but I am hoping that will change now that our son will be on the throne and in time he and Raihana will give us more grandchildren."

"Our daughter is a thorny rose. It will be difficult for a man to win her heart," Belle reminded him. "Had Rolando chosen another other than Drizella for his kadin I would be overcome with joy upon seeing his children."

"And I am certain this little one will add a little intrigue to our winter years," Rumple quipped.

The members of the royal guard formed two lines in front of the caravan while several servants unrolled a red velvet carpet for the couple to walk on as they stepped out of it. Their heirs were already seated on their thrones waiting for them, a priestess from the holy temple holding the crowns of the sultan and the sultana on blue satin pillows. Rumple stepped out of the caravan first then held out his hand for his wife.

"Form the bridge!" Emma commanded. The guards raised their sabers in the air and crossed them over their heads. Once they were standing on the platform Rumple faced his people for his final duty as sultan.

"My beloved people...today we begin a new age of peace and prosperity as I willingly surrender my duties as sultan to my heir, Prince Rolando. Respect and love him as you have respected and loved me all of these years. Lady Nova, please bring forth the crowns. Prince Rolando, Princess Drizella, please rise."

The young couple rose to their feet. Rumple took the crown that he'd worn for three decades and held it high above his head. "By my will and the will of the goddess, I Sultan Rumplestiltskin do crown you Rolando, Sultan of Azarajan!" he announced and placed the crown on his son's head.

Belle sighed and picked up the sultana's crown. She raised it above her head. "By my will and the will of the goddess. I, the Sultan Valide Belle do crown you Drizella, Sultana of Azarajan!" she announced and placed the crown on her daughter-in-law's head, the young woman not even bothering to disguise her smirk of satisfaction.

Oh you will be quite put out by the announcement we shall make this evening my dear, Belle thought wickedly and the two of them stepped back to allow the new sultan to address his people.

"I pledge to you, my people, that I will be a fair and just ruler as my father was before me," he said. "And together we can continue this Golden Age into the reign of my future heirs. Come, celebrate with us the beginning of this new era!"

A group of people gathered in the distance watching the new sultan and his kadin make their way through the crowd, not wishing to join in the festivities yet they would do so only for the sake of the sultan they once served.

"Oh I do wish the Valide's plans to remove that tart from the harem will succeed!" Emma hissed under her breath.

"Hush!" Bae growled.

"She will be the new sultan's undoing," Regina predicted. All heads turned in her direction.

"What do you know, Regina?" Snow demanded.

"The sultan has recently begun indulging himself more with wine and opiates. I have not told our lord Rumplestiltskin or the valide...I have been experimenting with various potions to attempt to curb his cravings..."

"You tread on very dangerous ground," Emma warned her. "If the food taster is able to detect the ingredients of the potion and mistakes them for poison you will be sent to the Dark Castle or the block."

"I have been cautious."

"The new sultana is another Cora or Milah...will attempt to rule Azarajan through the sultan. The Valide Tatiana was ambitious, yes but she knew her boundaries as did Belle," Aurora pointed out. "She did not try to dictate who would serve in the royal guard as we have seen with the new sultana...and this was before he was even given the crown and the office!"

The former sultan and valide were shocked by their son's announcement that he was restructuring the royal guard and in the eyes of those who had been dismissed, the sultan was attempting to remove all of those loyal to Rumplestiltskin and replace them with his friends, none of which Rumple or the valide approved of.

"Perhaps the valide will be successful locating a second wife for the sultan. Do not forget, the woman who bears the heir is favored more than one who is barren and the valide is no fool. The sultana will not concieve if Belle wishes it." Regina smiled. "The sultana's fondness for sweetmeats has proven useful and there are other methods at our disposal should we need them."

Bae's eyes widened. "She's used the potion? Papa will be furious! The potion the lady Tatiana used on him made him...well...beastly."

"We will not use that potion Baelfire. The valide will only use it if necessary." Regina frowned. "But I fear the news the valide will give us later on may provoke the sultana into doing something rash."

The others nodded in agreement. Little escaped the notice of Rumplestiltskin's children with the exception of his heir who focused all of his attentions to running the realm and his sultana.

"We'd better go before questions are asked," David cautioned.

The people were invited to a grand feast in the dining hall of the Arcadia palace. The newly crowned rulers of Azarajan concealed their displeasure behind false smiles while they observed peoples of the lower class mingling with the nobles as if they were equals.

"Now that we rule this nation the peasants will learn their place and stay in it," Drizella hissed into her husband's ear. "We cannot have them wandering about the palace attempting to rob us of our goods."

"My father was a fool. They were only loyal to him as long as he pampered them and my mother encouraged his foolishness. When was the last time he raised taxes? He has no ambition. Azarajan could be the most powerful kingdom of all and yet my father did not even attempt to conquer new lands. I will not live under his shadow. I will make my place among the great leaders of the seven kingdoms and I will do so my own way."

"Your father insisted on clinging to old traditions. Times are changing my love. What need does a sultan have of advisors or even a valide when you are capable of making your own decisions? Perhaps the valide and your father should retire to Serenity to live out their winter years."

"Yes, yes...they should...but not right away darling."

"And your sister. It is time she married and had a household of her own."

Rolando glanced over to where his twin sister stood, surrounded by several nobles attempting to court her. As one of them attempted to touch her in an intimate manner she gave him a firece shove, sending him staggering backwards into a table, knocking over the wine fountain. The sultan shook his head with disgust at his sister's outrageous behavior while another man in the crowd clenched his hands into fists wishing he were brave enough to teach the man the proper way to treat a lady.

"How dare you! How dare you take such liberties with me!" she demanded angrily.

"Your Highness...I was just..."

"You will remove yourself from my sight or you will lose your eyes and your offending hands!" she threatened.

"Gladly!" he retorted and jumped to his feet. "I do hope you enjoy spinsterhood woman for any man who desired you with your dragon's temper would have to be insane!"

"Raihana!" Rolando thundered. There was a tense silence in the dining hall. The princess bowed her head.

"My liege," she murmured.

"Your behavior is disgraceful. Return to your chambers immediately."

She raised her head and turned to her father, her blue eyes filed with tears. "But...Papa..."

"You heard the sultan, my daughter. You must return to your chambers." Rumple said solemly.

"And you will remain there until you learn to behave like a princess of the realm," Rolando added. "I will not have you bring shame upon this house? Do I make myself clear!?"

Drizella smiled with satisfaction, taking great pleasure in seeing one of her two rivals being knocked down from her pedestal and given the tongue lashing she was deserving of. She felt a beating was also in order but she couldn't be too hasty. She would simply bide her time and act when the opportunity presented itself.

Raihana nodded through her tears, all eyes upon her as she left the hall. They'd seen many of the princess's outbursts over the years but the former sultan hadn't spoken to her so harshly. Many in the crowd exchanged nervous glances.

"Drink, dance, be merry!" the sultan announced to his guests, linking his arm though his wife's and soon laughter and music filled the hall again. Rolando approached his parents with a scowl on his lips. "My sister will remain here...as long as she conducts herself like a princess of the realm but if she does not, she will be exiled to Serenity to live out her years as a spinster."

"Rolando, was it necessary to be so harsh with her?" Rumple asked calmly.

"It was. You have been far too lenient with her Papa. I will not make the same mistake."

"Your sister was well within her rights to defend her honor. The man's hands were where they were not wanted," Belle spoke up. "I would have given him a sharp kick to the backside for good measure and as long as I am valide, the men in this court will treat the women with respect or they will not be made welcome!"

"You are valide, Mother but you are not the sultan. You would do well to remember that."

"And you would do well to remember that your mother birthed you and I planted the seed that created you, dearie!" Rumple said icily. "Sultan or no, you will show us the respect we are due! Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, Papa. Now if you will excuse me, I will see to my guests."

"Rumple...perhaps we should wait to make my announcement," Belle began nervously once their son was out of earshot.

"We cannot my kadin. You will start showing soon and there will no longer be any way to conceal it."

"I fear for our son...he is changing...and I place the blame at the feet of that awful woman at his side."

"Then perhaps it is time we took a page from Mother's book and removed her but I suspect you already have a plot in place to do so, do you not my lady valide?"

"Are you angry with me?"

"No. You have not given him the potion Mother gave me, have you? You are well are of its effects on the personality."

"No...only the sultana has been given the potion to prevent conception. My only issue is finding another woman to divert his attentions away from Drizella."

"You will find one. We must be patient. In the meantime we will speak with Raihana. She cannot continue to have her outbursts when a man comes to court her."

"That will not be easy darling. Raihana is our thorny rose...and not at all interested in finding a husband. I fear that man was correct...it will take one with more courage than he to win her heart."

"Come, once the guests depart we will make our announcement."

The man that had witnessed the argument between the new sultan and the princess excused himself and hurried after her. He found her standing beside the new valide's fountain.

"Are you alright, Your Highness?"

Raihana spun around to see a tall, ginger haired man dressed in a jade velvet double and black breeches standing before her. He smiled and bowed gracefully and when he rose his face looked familiar to her but she could not recall from where. Her hand went to her thigh where a dagger was concealed beneath her skirts.

"Lay a hand on me and you will lose it!" she hissed.

"I have no intentions of it. I...uhhh...saw what that man did you and I was angry. You are the princess of this realm and should be treated with the proper respect and no man should put his hands on a woman when they are not welcome."

"You look familiar. Have we met?"

"Perhaps in passing. Oh, I have heard legends of this fountain but never imagined it to be so beautiful."

"It is a testament to the love my father bears for my mother. I long for a love like theirs but I will never have it. Oh, I should not be saying such things to a mere stranger! You should return to the party as I have been confined to my quarters for the evening."

"My name is Jiminy, Your Highness."

She glanced back at the open doors of the ballroom, sighing longingly. "I used to love our galas, loved to dance but every man seeks more than just a dance."

Jiminy held out his hand. "That is all I seek Your Highness. Will you dance with me?"

"You are aware I nearly tossed your predecessor out on his backside?"

"I am but my hands will not go where they are not wanted."

"I want to trust you, I do..."

"I will be a gentleman, Your Highness," he insisted.

Her small hand trembled as he clasped it within his larger one and he led her into a waltz on the cobblestones of the palace courtyard, her breath catching in her throat as his sapphire blue eyes gazed deeply into hers and for a moment she deceived herself into thinking that she could see and the first flames of love burning them. But, no, it was too much to hope for. She was Azarajan's rose and only the strongest man in all the realms could pluck those sharp thorns.

Jiminy said a silent thank you in his mind to the father and mother whose love had created this beautiful young woman in his arms for it had been their generous gift of coins to him that had paid for the fine clothes he now wore. In those clothes he was not the gypsy the princess had scorned when they first met but a gentleman that wished to be more than just another name on her dance card. As the music came to an end he spun her around into a graceful dip, their lips merely inches apart.

Raihana felt her chest tighten, expecting him to do as others had before him and attempt to take his liberties. Instead he merely smiled and raised her up.

"You have done me a great honor this evening, Your Highness. I thank you." He bowed and stepped back.

"Wait...don't go!" she pleaded, stunning herself with those words. He raised an eyebrow.

"Your Highness?"

"Raihana. My name is Raihana. And you have been the gentleman you promised." She took his hand and led him over to the marble bench beside the fountain. "Do you have a lira, my lord Jiminy?"

"I...ahhh...believe I do. Why?"

"Surely you have heard all the legends of the valide's fountain. If you toss a lira into its waters and make a wish, the goddess will grant it."

Jiminy reached into the small pouch he carried and took out the last of his coins. "We will make a wish together...with your permission of course?" He held out the hand with the lira in it to her. She covered it with her own. "Now, think of your wish and I will think of mine."

I wish for you to love me, Raihana. Love me and I will be the man you deserve, he thought.

I wish for a man like Jiminy to love me and I will be the woman he deserves, she thought. She knew the man couldn't possibly be him, the goddess would not so kind.

They held their joined hands over the fountain and opened them, the lira falling into the water.

Raihana heard footsteps followed by angry shouts. "She is not in her chambers. Search the grounds! We must find her before the sultan!"

She froze. "You must go...if they discover you, you will be taken to the Dark Castle for trying to help me!"

"If I explain..."

"You cannot! Please, Jiminy, go! I will not have you harmed on my account."

He raised her hand to his lips and she did not protest when he kissed her knuckles gently. "We will meet again and perhaps our wishes will come true." He stood up and bowed before he hurried off. Raihana took a deep breath and rose to her feet as the guards approached.

"Come with us, Your Highness," one said coldly. She reached into the fountain and pulled the lira out, clutching it tightly in her hand and glanced back at the doors to the ballroom, seeing Jiminy standing there with a wistful smile on his lips.

Later on that evening the only occupants of the dining hall were the sultan and the members of his family including Raihana, who was given a temporary reprieve from her confinement though she seemed distracted.

"It was a wonderful celebration!" Belle exclaimed.

"Next year we shall do better to celebrate our first year as rulers with the vast wealth we have in our treasury and we shall make improvements to the palace more suited for a sultan."

Rumple lowered his goblet. "The royal treasury's funds are distributed amongst the people as they should be, not wasted on unnecessary projects. This palace does not need improvements. We live comfortably."

"And you were displeased with the ceremony?" Belle asked sadly, disappointed in her son's lack of enthusiasm over a celebration it had taken her months to plan and organize and the sultana had been no help but she certainly enjoyed taking credit for it.

"With all do respect Mother, it was too small."

"Too small! Have you no idea of the months of planning that went into...?"

Rumple put his hand on her arm. "Rolando, I will ask you once and once only to apologize to your mother. I will not have her distressed in her condition!"

"What condition? Mama, are you ill?" Raihana asked worriedly.

"No darling. I am with child," Belle announced.

Drizella's spoon struck her plate with a clatter that echoed throughout the hall. "How can you be with child at your age?!" she sneered.

"It was a gift from the goddess," Belle replied smoothly. "A precious gift to us during our winter years."

"Soon I will be carrying the heir to the throne...as a woman my age should," Drizella declared haughtily.

"Of course we would be pleased to see our first grandchild, Drizella."

But not from you, you vindictive trollop, Belle thought coldly. She smiled sweetly over the rim of her goblet while she watched her rival take a bite of her sweetmeat.

"Well...ahh Mother, now that you are ahhh...expecting...you should not be taking on so many responsibilities. Perhaps you should retire to Serenity."

"Nonsense. Your mother was fully capable of performing her royal duties while carrying you and your siblings," Rumple disputed. "In fact, we were conducting receiving when she began her labors, did you not my kadin?"

"Yes and though I did have many responsibilities I did not shuffle the responsibility of raising you to servants as many royal houses do and I would expect you to follow the same custom, Rolando."

"Of course," he said quickly and raised his goblet. "To my new brother..or sister..."

The sultana smiled faintly, only raising her goblet a fraction or two, seething. Once again the valide had gotten the upper hand with her...for now and the sultan was even less enthusiastic with the idea of another potential rival for his throne, especially a male heir.

"They must be exiled to Serenity!" the sultana shouted once they were behind the closed doors of their bedchamber.

"And they will be but we must be patient, Drizella. If we remove them now we risk an uprising. No, we must be more clever than that, my darling. We must conceive our own heir," he growled and kissed her fiercely. "I will NOT have my virility put to shame by an old man!"

A small opening in the wall of the bedchamber closed and the occupant behind it carefully tiptoed out of the passage, blocking out the lustful cries of the sultan and his bride as he made his way down a flight of stairs to the sorceress Regina's private chambers where she waited with valide and the former sultan.

"Your suspicions are justified, my lady valide. The sultan plans to remove you and the lord Rumplestiltskin from the palace and are now attempting to conceive their own heir."

"And my son is unaware my mother's spy corridors have been reopened?" Rumple inquired.

"Yes, my lord."

"We must make certain he never discovers them. You do us proud Henry."

"My parents taught me well," Henry said with a grin.

"Indeed they have. You may join them once we depart for Serenity. Emma misses you and so does your Grace," Rumple said referring to Henry's betrothed, his guard Jefferson's daughter Grace. Henry was Emma and Baelfire's eldest son followed by a sister they named Tatiana after the late valide.

"Thank you Grandfather."

Rumple beamed. "Go on Henry...enjoy the rest of your evening."

Regina reached for a bottle on the shelf behind her and handed it to her mistress. "Take this faithfully every day. it will protect you and the child from poisons."

Rumple's eyes narrowed to slits. "Let us hope my son is not foolish enough to resort to murdering his own flesh and blood."

Belle cradled her belly protectively. "That woman has corrupted our son and I'll see her ousted from this harem whatever it takes!"

Neither of them realized that their son had been corrupted years ago by the knowledge that one day he would have absolute power and the golden age their people enjoyed for thirty years would soon come to a painful end.

"But for now, you must speak with our daughter."

Belle nodded and went down the hall to her daughter's chamber. Raihana was awake in her bed holding a lira in her hand.

"What's that darling?" she asked softly.

"Mama, do you recall the legends that are told about your fountain?"

"Oh yes," Belle smiled softly. "My fountain is the symbol of the love your papa bears for me and I've heard tell that lovers from all corners of the realm have come here to ask for Selene's blessings to their unions. The legend is that those who wish to be lovers hold a lira in their joined hands and make a wish then they drop it into the fountain, asking for Selene's blessing upon their union and she grants it. Why?"

"Because I wished for a lover, Mama!"she sobbed.

"You did? When?"

"I did not go to my room as I was ordered to. I went out to the courtyard. You know I am always at peace there. And a met a man...a wonderful, handsome man! Mama, his hair is as red as the flames and his eyes...his eyes are as blue as the finest Azarajan sapphires...his voice...his voice is so soft and gentle..." She rose from the bed and began to dance around, still holding the lira in her hand. "We talked, we danced...and we wished, Mama!"

Belle's eyes widened. "And he did not...take liberties with you?"

"No! He was a gentleman as he promised he would be. I suggested we make the wish...I don't know why..."

Belle raised her hand and pressed it against her daughter's chest. "Sometimes our hearts decide what is best for us before our heads do. This man you've made, he's aroused a passion in you that I've waited years to see. What is his name? Please tell me he has given you that at least!"

"Jiminy. His name is Jiminy. He seems familiar Mama but I cannot recall where I've met him before."

"Ah but I do, darling. He is one of the puppeteers that your father has perform shows for the children after storytime. You were rather rude to him when you first met at your father's celebration but he and his troupe were invited to the coronation this evening and performed a show for us because we love their work and so do the children."

"The gypsy?! He was the gypsy? Ohhhh!" the princess moaned and buried her face in her hands. "And his show was after I went to my chambers, was it not?"

"Yes...his voice sounded rather melancholy this evening while he performed, not like him at all. Now I understand why."

"I had to send him away before the guard found me. I didn't want him taken to the Dark Castle on my account. I must see him again, Mama. I must! I must be certain that he is well but you cannot tell anyone, not even Papa!"

"I do not keep secrets from your papa and if this man wishes to court you..."

"Promise me," her daughter begged fearfully.

"All right darling, all right...I'll arrange it but I do not understand why you're so frightened of Papa finding out you have a suitor."

"He's not the one that frightens me."

"Then who...Rolando. It is Rolando, is it not? You see it too, the change in him since he met that awful woman!"

Oh it began earlier than that, Mama, Raihana thought sadly, her throat tightening when the image that haunted many of her nightmares since her early childhood came flooding back, the pillow held over her face, her arms flailing helplessly while she struggled to free herself. She gasped and started coughing.

"Mama...my potion..."

Belle grabbled the bottle on the nighttable and handed it to her. She took a sip and several deep breaths before she handed it back to her mother.

"I don't want to stay here with him, Mama. I want to go to Serenity but I don't want to leave you either..."

"We can find some excuse for you to go. Do you still wish me to...?"

"Yes!"

"I'll send one of my messengers to him with a request to come and perform a show."

"Thank you, Mama. I love you!" The girl gave her grateful kiss and lay down, the lira still in her hand.

Her husband was still awake when she returned to their bedchamber.

"Something's troubling you dearie. What is it?"

"I gave you my word shortly after we were wed that I would not keep secrets from you yet our daughter is asking me to keep one!' Belle cried. "And I do not understand why!"

"Perhaps if you tell me we can figure out the answer together," he suggested.

She told him.

"Ah, so he does fancy her as I've suspected," Rumple said with a smile. "You did not notice the looks he gave her the day of my celebration and today but I did, my kadin. My days as the Sultan of Azarajan have come to an end but my instincts are as sharp as ever. You know as well as I that our daughter is a thorny rose but Jiminy has somehow managed to soften her a bit but he'd best be prepared to prove himself worthy of her hand."

"She wants to go to Serenity."

"Then she shall and Jiminy will be able to court her without our son interfering as I suspect he will, given his current behavior. We must stay here and watch him closely, my kadin, and if he proves himself to be unworthy of the sultanate then we must do everything in our power to remove him and place our daughter on the throne in his stead."

"We have such high expectations for him Rumple. I pray he does not disappoint us."

"As do I. I will not have him undo what it took me thirty years to achieve!"

Neither realized that their son had been corrupted years ago by the knowledge that one day he would have absolute power and the golden age their people enjoyed for thirty years would soon come to a painful and violent end.


	3. Serpents In The Garden

Once word of the valide's condition spread throughout the country, the people rejoiced, the sultan and his kadin did not. Despite their many efforts, the sultana had yet to show any symptoms of being with child. She was aware of the schemes of the Valide Tatiana to prevent an undesired kadin from producing an heir and there was no doubt in her mind the current valide had resorted to her mother-in-law's tricks to spite her. It was time Belle learned her place once and for all and so would the old man. If she had her way her husband's entire family would either be dead or in exile. Having grown up in the palace with her aunt Ashley, Drizella admired the young crown prince from afar until she reached puberty and once he'd taken her to his bed without his parents' knowledge when she was sixteen, she saw in him an ambition that matched her own and his fondness for opiates and wine made him more agreeable. They also made him more temperamental, far worse than his father.

True to her word, a messenger from the valide's quarters departed for the forest early one morning with an invitation to perform a show for the Cricketeers, the name Geppetto had given their troupe along with a private message for Jiminy from the valide herself. The group had just returned from performing a show at the royal palace in Agrabah, the fee they'd been paid making it possible for them to purchase a newer, larger wagon to carry all their equipment along with new equipment for more exciting shows that they were still in the process of writing the material for.

"Grampa, Jiminy, a messenger from the palace is coming!" Pinocchio announced when he burst into the wagon, waking them out of an exhausted sleep. Jiminy groaned and rolled out of his cot, yanking a pair of breeches on under his nightshirt and thrust his feet into a pair of boots. The messenger dismounted his horse and handed a scroll with the valide's wax seal to Geppetto.

"Jiminy, the valide is requesting that we come to the palace to perform our new show at story time this evening. You may tell the lady valide that we accept her invitation." he said to the messenger. The messenger reached into his satchel and took out another scroll.

"A private message for you, sir." he said to Jiminy.

"For me?"

Geppetto's eyebrows arched. Jiminy took the scroll, spying the valide's seal on it and tucked it into his pouch to read later. The messenger dipped his hat to the pair and mounted his horse.

"This wouldn't have anything to do with the princess, would it?" Geppetto quizzed after the messenger rode away.

"I don't know but I cannot get my hopes up, Papa. She will despise me once she learns that I'm a gypsy. She was hostile to me the first day we met but oh I cannot get that night in the courtyard out of my mind! But I must. She will marry one of the nobles or another prince. I will be nothing more than a passing fancy. Come. We must pack the wagon. The valide is expecting us."

"It can wait. Read the message."

"But, Papa..."

"Son, do you think the valide would send someone with a private message for you if you are just a passing fancy for the princess? Open it. Or I will."

"Papa!"

Geppetto reached into the pouch, took the scroll out and unrolled it. "Ah-ha! You are to meet with the princess in the palace gardens after the show. Just a passing fancy, eh? Go clean yourself up my boy! I'll not have you meeting her with the stink of the road on you. My grandson and I will get everything packed."

"But...I can help..."

"Go!"

"Yes, Papa." Jiminy was smiling as he undressed and dived into the lake. A private meeting. It was more than he could've hoped for.

Raihana's hands fingered the lira around her neck nervously as she paced the courtyard and glanced up at the sundial. Story time would be ending soon and though she'd witnessed the Cricketeers' arrival from the window of her bedchamber, her mother's news that morning offered her little comfort. She'd chastised herself many times in the week since that night for being so susceptible to the charms of the gypsy she'd insulted after their brief first meeting yet there was no denying the passions he'd stirred in her while they danced and as they made their wish in her mother's fountain.

"He didn't read the message?"

"Not to Neal's knowledge."

Raihana bit back a sob.

"Don't cry darling. Perhaps he read it later in private. Go, wait in the courtyard. He will come to you."

Story time was now over and their wagon would soon depart. She turned and started to walk back toward the palace, scolding herself again for holding onto hope that she had at last found a man whose suit she would welcome.

"..Your Highness?"

Her heart lifted hearing that familiar voice.

"Jiminy!"

"You asked to see me?"

"I...I wanted to make certain you were well..."

"Even if I am a gypsy?" he asked with a hint of bitterness in his voice. "That robs you blind?"

"I...I was rude to you that day. Please forgive me."

He glanced down to see a lira hanging from a chain around her neck. "Why are you wearing that?"

"I...it's nothing," she said quickly and covered it with her hand.

"No, please tell me. It's the one we made our wish on, isn't it? Isn't it?" His eyes locked with hers.

"Yes..."

"Why did you keep it?"

"To remember you. To remember your kindness."

"Why did you ask to see me?"

"I just told you...to make certain you were well."

"There was no other reason?"

"I wanted to apologize for my rudeness."

She looked away.

"Please look at me," he pleaded.

"I...I can't..." she gasped.

"Raihana...Your Highness!"

"Satchel...potion! Hurry!"

Jiminy grabbed the bag and took out a bottle filled with amber liquid and handed it to her then helped her to sit down while she drank from the bottle and moments later her breathing returned to normal.

"I didn't mean to cause you any distress."

She shook her head. "You didn't. I've had this condition for as long as I can remember and sometimes the heat makes breathing difficult."

He began fanning her with his hand. "Does this help?"

"Yes."

"Raihana...Your Highness I must apologize in advance for my boldness, but I cannot hold it back any longer. I wish to court you."

"Y...You do?"

"Yes. I know you are the princess of the realm and far superior than I in rank, but do you remember that night in this very courtyard? I do, and I haven't been able to forget it, nor do I want to. I wish to court you, with your permission."

"You wish to court me. Me?"

"Why does that surprise you?"

"You know how difficult I can be! They call me the Thorny Rose of Azarajan!"

"You were not so difficult that night, my rose." He reached out and took her hands in his. "A real man seeks the heart of a woman, not the crown she wears. Your crown is nothing more than a trinket you wear but your heart is your greatest treasure and it was my wish to fill it with love."

"Oh, Jiminy!" she sobbed. "Yes, you may court me!"

"You have made me the happiest man in all the realms, my rose. My rose, what is it?"

"The sultan, he must not know!" she cried frantically and got up, looking around the corner. "And I cannot be certain that he already does."

"Raihana, my rose, you're talking as if you fear him."

"I do!"

"Why?"

"Because he tried to kill me!"

Jiminy's eyes widened with shock and horror. " Tried to murder you? When?"

"Years ago, when I was still a child...this...this breathing difficulty I have...that...that is when it started. He tried to smother me, and I couldn't get away...but I'd managed to knock a little doll Papa made me off my night table and Bae and Emma heard it and broke down the door, but Rolando released me before they came in and threatened to kill me if I told them or anyone what really happened. So, I said I had a nightmare where a monster stole my breath away." Tears streamed down her cheeks. "And...and I think he killed our brother and the valide..."

"Raihana if this is true, he must be removed as sultan!"

"Mama and Papa...they wouldn't believe me..."

"Does anyone else suspect he was responsible for your condition?"

"Bae...and Emma."

"And they have kept their silence as well?"

"Yes."

"It was foolish to do so and your mama and papa should know you would never lie about something so horrible."

"Jiminy, I must ask you not to speak of it either for your safety. Please," she begged.

He sighed heavily. "I am not comfortable keeping such a secret Raihana. Your parents should know."

"Walk with me," she pleaded softly. He linked his arm through hers and allowed her to escort him through the courtyard. "I am planning to leave for our palace at Serenity, away from my brother and his spies. Will you come to me there?"

"Courting you without a chaperone present? Would your parents allow this?"

"They will agree to anything that makes me happy."

They were stunned to find her father and the valide awaiting them when they entered the rose garden.

"M...My lord...I...I was just...escorting the princess back to the palace," Jiminy explained nervously.

"Papa, Jiminy has asked for permission to court me and I have granted it. Now we ask for your blessing," Raihana blurted.

"You are aware, are you not dearie, that he is not of noble birth and you are a princess of the realm?"

"You were not of noble birth either," she disputed.

Her father chuckled. "Indeed, I was not, poppet, and you do me proud to remind me of it. Nor am I blind to the affection your suitor has shown for you almost from the moment you met at my celebration. Your suit is welcome Jiminy but be aware, if you break my daughter's heart I will make certain that you are imprisoned in the darkest corner of the Dark Castle for the rest of your days."

"I will not break her heart. I will court her with kindness and patience," he vowed.

"See that you do. I am certain my daughter has told you she plans to depart for Serenity soon?"

"She has."

"You have our permission to pay court to her there, but you will be watched closely to make certain that you are true to your word and a gentleman with my daughter."

"And...the sultan?"

"Will be told that his sister must go to Serenity for her health and pleasure," the valide replied.

"My father will be ready to leave soon but I will come to you at Serenity my rose," Jiminy said softly and kissed Raihana's hand then bowed to the former sultan and valide before he took his leave. Raihana watched him depart in the wagon, her fingers caressing the lira pendant she now wore, counting the days until she would see him again.

Two days later a caravan carrying the Princess Raihana and her belongings departed for Serenity much to the new sultana's delight. Ousting her meddling mother-in-law would be more difficult and her husband seemed to be more interested in imbibing in the wine and opiates than removing the two biggest threats to his reign. Once again, she would have to do his work for him and she would have him removed also if necessary and rule in her own right.

"Rolando, why have you not held receiving yet?" his father quizzed him one afternoon when he encountered the sultan and his kadin returning from the bathhouse while he was going for a walk. The valide was in the library holding story time. "It has been a week since your coronation and many are seeking an audience with you."

"Their issues can't be that pressing," the sultan said nonchalantly.

"Not that pressing? I have received word from Bae that one of your newly appointed chancellors in the Sherwood territory has raised taxes to the point where most of the residents cannot afford to pay them! How can he raise taxes without your authority?"

"He had my authority, Father."

"You...you...you raised the taxes?" Rumple sputtered. "Why? I never in the thirty years I was..."

"You are no longer the sultan and will not question on me on how I chose to rule, or you will find yourself spending your winter years in exile...or the Dark Castle."

Rumple glared at the boy. "I do not know what has gotten into you, dearie, but whatever it is, be aware that it will have a price."

"Are you threatening me?"

"No. I am merely..."

"This discussion is over. If you'll excuse us, my lord...we have other urgent business to attend to."

The couple walked away leaving the former sultan asking himself who had taken his son away and replaced him with a stranger who was taking on more of Zozo's personality traits than his own. As he walked back to the palace the beautiful fountain he had commissioned after his beloved kadin was being broken into pieces by seven dwarves with pickaxes.

"What are you doing! Stop! Stop!" he cried, seizing the pickaxe from one of the men and throwing it in the grass.

"Forgive me my lord Rumplestiltskin...but we have been ordered by the sultan to remove this fountain and construct a new one in honor of the sultana Drizella," the leader, a burly man named Leroy spoke up.

"This...this is an outrage!" Rumple growled. "Has the valide seen this?" he demanded of them. They shook their heads.

"Do not tell her. I will not have her distressed. Surely another fountain can be built elsewhere! Do not chip away one more piece of that fountain until I speak with my son!"

"My lord please, we are not enjoying this...we don't want to destroy it!" another dwarf named Happy insisted. The men laid their axes down on the ground until several of the sultan's guards approached. They picked them up and continued destroying the symbol Rumple had constructed to his beloved kadin. He stormed off toward the bath only to have guards blocking his way.

"You are no longer permitted to use the bathhouse."

"What?"

"You are to bathe in your chambers."

"With what? A basin and cloths?"

One nodded.

"This is inexcusable. The valide should at least be permitted to bathe properly in her condition!" He stormed off in search of his son.

The valide had just finished reading one story to the children when the doors to the library opened and a group of guards entered followed by the sultan. Belle rose to her feet and bowed.

"My liege. Welcome. Come, sit."

"Escort the children back to their parents," the sultan ordered his guards in a cold voice.

"Rolando...what is this?" Belle asked fearfully.

"We will no longer be having story time, and this library will only be accessible to the sultana and myself."

"Why!" she cried. "I am your mother. I am the Valide! You cannot treat me like this!"

"This court no longer has a need for a Valide Sultan, Mother."

She scowled at him. "There has been a Valide Sultan in this court for centuries, even during the reign of the accursed Zozo! Did I not teach to respect traditions?"

"Times must change, Mother and I will establish my own traditions."

"Changes must happen gradually, not all at once," she argued. "Give the people time to adjust."

"Escort the lady Belle to her chambers."

"Rolando! What is the meaning of this madness of yours!" Rumple thundered as he burst through the doors to the library. "I had that fountain commissioned in your mother's honor before you were even born. How dare you destroy it!?"

Belle's eyes widened with shock. "My fountain!"

"I am having a new one commissioned for my sultana Father and all of you will show her the proper respect she is due, or you will find that your lives here at court will not be as comfortable as you are accustomed to."

"Is that why you have banned us from the bathhouse and destroyed your mother's fountain? When has your sultana shown us the respect we are due?"

"When did you give her cause to? You've made it evident you despise her and refuse to accept her into our family. She is the one I have chosen as my consort and she will remain my consort throughout my reign whether you like it or not. Remove them!"

They expected to be taken back to the bedchamber they'd inhabited for the past thirty years but the guards led them past the royal bedchamber and down the hall to what was once the harem. The harem was empty now that all of Rumple's children except Raihana were married and had families of their own and all the fine furnishings and tapestries had been removed, making the rooms resemble a slave's quarters.

There was no doubt in his mind that his son had placed guards outside their quarters to spy on them and listen in on their conversations. He joined Belle at the table where they once enjoyed taking tea with the crowned heads of the realms and the palace that was once their home had become their prison. All they could hope for was for Rolando to change his mind and decide to send them to Serenity with their daughter. A life in exile seemed more appealing than being prisoners in Arcadia. It was difficult to speak in riddles in their own palace, but they knew they had no other choice if they didn't want to risk the sultan's wrath, but they would not simply sit back and let their country be destroyed either. They no longer had Bae's army within their reach, all the former guards had been removed from the palace, but they did not go quietly.

Two days later a bloody battle ensued outside the palace walls between the armies of the former sultan and current sultan as they marched to Serenity to capture Princess Raihana, but the former sultan's forces were severely outnumbered and many of them killed. Knowing his father would want them to live to fight another day, Bae was forced to admit defeat and take refuge in the forest until they could gather enough support for a full invasion and the terrified princess was taken to Arcadia and imprisoned with them. Only they knew the dangers the people of Azarajan and the family faced as long as Rolando remained on the throne and they were determined to remove him, no matter the cost.

In a small tavern in the territory of Sherwood several weeks later, a group of people gathered, their voices raised in anger.

"We have been told that if we cannot pay our taxes, our homes and all our goods will be seized. They have even threatened to take our children!" a young woman named Marian cried, her arms wrapped around her young son protectively.

"We were promised that the new sultan would continue our golden age. Lies! He fills his coffers with the monies from our labors, he refuses to hear our grievances and where...where are the former sultan and the valide!" her husband Robin shouted. "No one has seen or heard from them since the coronation! Do they not know of our plights! Do they care? I think not!"

"We cannot assume that!" Jiminy spoke up.

All heads turned to a table in the far corner of the room where he sat with his family, earning icy glares from most of them. He stood up.

"If they cared they would do something, gypsy!" Robin hissed.

"Has it occurred to you they may be receiving the same ill treatment as we are?"

"Jiminy, you're mad. They are not being mistreated, they simply do not care for us now that they are no longer in power. How can you defend them when you stand to lose all you have from not being able to pay their taxes?" Marian asked him.

"The former sultan will not abandon us. I believe in him. I believe in the valide and you should all do the same."

"And you fancy the princess!" another man said and snickered. "Not that she'd ever want you! You're ten years her senior, a gypsy and not even handsome enough for her liking."

Jiminy's face reddened. "That has nothing to do with it!"

Several other men in the tavern laughed.

"Stop it you buffoons!" Robin ordered. "We have more important matters to discuss here. Several times I have sought an audience with the sultan to hear our pleas and I have been refused every time."

"Then what are suggesting we do? Rebel?" asked Geppetto. "I cannot lose my grandson, but they will take him if I cannot pay my taxes. I gave my daughter my word that I would protect her son and I will not break my promise."

"We would stand no chance against the might of the sultan's army. They are trained soldiers," Jiminy added. "And we must remember, the former sultan's army was defeated when they attempted to stop them from capturing the princess."

"We're not going to take this lying down either!"

"Papa, I am frightened for Raihana," Jiminy said to his father. "I thought she'd be safe. I should've gone to her!"

"We cannot lose hope, son and you would've been captured or killed if you had."

Outside the tavern a man and woman stood quietly listening to every word being spoken until they were satisfied they'd heard enough and rode out to a camp in the woods. Two men stood by the entrance, their hands on the hilts of their swords until they recognized their visitors.

"They're waiting for your report," one of them said.

Inside the main tent Baelfire and Emma were eating a late dinner.

"Mama, Papa, the situation is worse than we feared," said Henry. "The sultan is taxing the people to the point where they will lose their homes, their goods, and even their children. And no one has seen the former sultan, the valide and the princess."

Bae frowned. "You are still not able to gain access to the palace?"

"No Captain. What spy holes the valide ordered to be opened have been sealed off again," spoke up Grace, Henry's intended and the daughter of Baelfire's third in command Jefferson.

"We must find a way inside to discover the truth for ourselves." Emma rose from her seat.

"That will be difficult Mama without the use of the spy tunnels."

"The people of Sherwood are angry, talking of rebellion." Grace added.

"So are many others. They do not want their children taken from them to be slaves in the palace. Even Grandfather did not take children away from their families. Papa, why is the sultan being so cruel? Is it because of Drizella?"

"I am afraid not Henry. There has always been a cruel streak in Rolando but he concealed it well from Papa and Mama. I cannot prove it but I have my suspicions he is the source of Raihana's condition."

The younger man's eyes widened in horror, "Papa, are you suggesting that he...?"

"What your papa is saying Henry is that we believe Rolando attempted to smother Princess Raihana when she was seven years old and that is why she has difficulty breathing at times."

"I don't understand..."

Bae's eyes narrowed to slits as he recalled that night. He and Emma had just completed their patrol of the main halls when they heard someone gasping inside Princess Raihana's bedchamber. When they entered the room they found the princess sitting up in her bed struggling to breathe and utterly terrified.

"A...a demon...it tried to take my breath away!" she cried.

Bae sat with the child while Emma went to find her parents and Regina. They questioned her about the demon but noticed when her brother entered the room she refused to say anything more and insisted it was only a nightmare.

The two teenagers were horrified by the former palace guard's story. "But why didn't you tell the sultan and the valide?" Grace exclaimed. "Rolando would have been removed from the succession and locked away!"

"We had no proof Grace," her father said.

"And the princess is probably too terrified to speak the truth, especially if she was threatened," Emma put in. "We attempted to get her to talk about it many times over the years, but she insists it was only a nightmare to this day. Our mission remains unchanged. We must find a way back into the palace to protect the others from the sultan."

The former sultan and valide found resting difficult that night, both troubled by their son's sudden change of heart. They attributed it to his kadin, not wanting to believe their boy had been cruel from the moment he emerged from his mother's womb, only an hour before his sister but just long enough for him to be proclaimed the heir to the throne.

"Rumple, if it comes to it..."

He sighed deeply. "We will have to remove our son from the throne by force and crown our daughter sultana," he whispered.

"You doubt her ability to rule?"

"No, my kadin I do not. I only hope young Jiminy is brave enough to continue his courtship. Many young men have fancied her and had their backsides handed to them for their troubles. I am grateful she did not run them through with a sword! I should never have allowed Emma to teach you how to use them!"

"Nevertheless, being trained to defend myself was a wise decision darling."

"But first my kadin, we must find a way out of the palace."

They had no way of knowing the opportunity would soon present itself.

They had been stripped of all of their comforts but the former sultan, valide and princess always found refuge in the Temple of Selene. As they knelt at her altar, the doors to the temple swung open and the sultan strode in followed by a small regiment.

"My liege," Nova, the High Priestess greeted politely, chilled to the bone by the sultan's gaze.

Rolando gazed up at the statue of the goddess, snorting in disgust. "Worthless whore! You do not shape the destinies of men. We shape them ourselves." He turned to the guards. "Destroy it all."

"Rolando! You cannot! The blasphemy!" Belle gasped.

"Your frigid whore cannot touch ME Mother!" the sultan declared haughtily. "Destroy it! I shall build a new temple, one where the people will pay homage to the true god of this land..."

"Now you set yourself among the gods, the arrogance!" Raihana scoffed. The sultan raised his hand and slapped her. She fell to the floor, a large hand print on her fair cheek.

"HOW DARE YOU RAISE YOUR HAND TO YOUR SISTER!" Rumple bellowed. Two guards seized him as he was about to strike the sultan.

"I dare Father because I will not tolerate her insolence...or yours!" Rolando hissed. "Take them back to their quarters and lock them in!"

"You cannot hold us prisoner forever Rolando!" screamed Belle while they were being dragged away.

"You invoke the Goddess's wrath by attempting to ascend to a throne that is not yours to take," spoke a young woman named Maya Blue as she stepped out from behind the statue of the Goddess. At one time she believed her calling had been to serve as a handmaiden to the Goddess until she prayed to Selene for guidance and was given a vision that her true destiny was to serve as an apprentice to Regina. Both women possessed the gift of Sight and their skill with potions was unmatched in the seven realms.

"Chain them and take them to the palace. They will now serve as slaves to the sultana," the sultan said coldly. Both women cringed, having heard stories of the sultana's ill treatment of palace servants. While they were being taken back to the palace they spotted a group of men and small children also being taken to the palace in chains.

"Papa, what are they gonna do to us?" little Roland asked fearfully.

"I don't know," Robin moaned, his clothing still stained with his wife's blood. They'd torn her from his arms shortly before her death, tossing her body into the lake. A small army marched into the village that morning to round up a group of delinquent taxpayers unaware that the people armed themselves, ready to fight to the death to protect their homes and families. Tears cascaded down Robin's cheeks as he recalled how bravely his wife fought by his side to protect their son from being taken until she was forced to duel with Bo, the strongest woman in the new sultan's guard and was mortally wounded.

The group was taken to the throne room, thrown to the floor at the feet of the smirking sultana. She approached Robin first and cupped his chin in her hand, her nails slicing into his tender flesh. "We should have your heads severed from your bodies for your disobedience but that is far too easy a punishment for the likes of you...all of you! No, it will give us far greater pleasure to punish you every day for the rest of your pathetic lives. The children...send them to the kitchens."

"No!" Geppetto cried, struggling against his chains. One of the guards kicked him in the back. He gasped in pain.

"Grampa!" Pinocchio cried.

"Papa!" Jiminy attempted to reach for his father and was thrown to the floor.

"Remove them! NOW!" Drizella shouted. The cries of their frightened children tore at the hearts of their parents yet none of them could move to help them. The sultana approached Geppetto and pressed the heel of her slipper into the small of his back. "This one, send to the Dark Castle. He will not last long at his age."

"What of the others, my lady sultana?"

She thought for a moment. "These ones will serve the sultan and me," she said gesturing to Robin and three more men.

"What of this one?" a guard hauled Jiminy to his feet.

"I suppose we must have a slave for the rats. Put him with them!" she said indifferently, thinking the lanky man would be of little use to her or the sultan.

"Yes, my lady sultana. Come along, rat!"

Jiminy was taken to what was once the harem. His jailers shoved him toward the two guards standing in front of the closed doors. "New rat for the cage. The sultana wants him to serve them."

One of them laughed and unlocked the door. "In you go, rat!" They shoved him inside and he collided with someone standing on the other side, both falling to the floor.

"What...get OFF ME!" he heard a familiar voice snarl. He raised his head, his blue eyes meeting the relieved eyes of his beloved.

"Jiminy!" she sobbed, throwing her arms around him. "Why are you here?"

"I am to serve you."

"Then you are a prisoner as we are," Belle said softly from her pallet.

"Yes, my lady valide. Many of us are now, even the children," Jiminy said gravelly. "My lord...is there nothing you can do?" he pleaded of the former sultan.

"Without what is left of my army?" Rumple shook his head.

"Be careful what you say!" Raihana cried. "They are listening."

It pained Jiminy to see the once powerful sultan, valide and princess prisoners in their own palace. The only places left for the family to sit, sleep and eat were thin pallets in the corner of the room. Their clothes were dirty and starting to tear from not being able to wash them, needing to preserve what little water they were given to drink and wash with.

Belle reached into the bodice of her shift and handed him a bottle. "You must drink this. It will protect you from any poisons they attempt to use."

"Thank you my lady valide. But how did they not find it on your person."

The former valide smiled. "They did not know I had one hidden here."

Jiminy uncorked the bottle and took a small sip, handing the potion back to her. "Is there anything you need me to do to help make you more comfortable?"

The former sultan and valide looked at each other and smiled. "Simply having someone to talk to is a comfort dearie," Rumple said. "But as my daughter has said, be careful what you say."

A small hole closed behind the wall and the occupant crept through the tunnel to the royal bedchamber.

"Well?" the sultan demanded.

"The valide is in possession of one of the witch's vials."

"Confiscate it."

Drizella crawled onto her husband's lap and nibbled on his earlobe as she pulled a vial from the bodice of her dress. "This one is called the Sleep of Death. The victims cannot move or speak. The woman I obtained it from gave me her assurances there is no cure for it."

"She is trustworthy?"

"She gave the potion to her slave and allowed me to observe its effects. The man appeared to be dead but was not. All we need to do is have our physician pronounce their deaths and bury them where no one will find them."

Rolando smiled evilly.

"And it will appear natural?"

"Of course, my love."

"Have it added to the tea their new rat gives them."

"What of Raihana?"

"I have other plans for her."

"Why are you still here? Leave us!" the sultana barked. The servant bowed and scurried out of the room. As he was walking down the hall he could hear the lust filled cries of the sultan and consort, scowling with disgust. Those and the screams of pain were now the only sounds that echoed through the halls of the palace. Oh, how he would give anything to return to the time when the palace was a place of joy and laughter!

A small smile crept into his handsome features when he approached the doors to the throne room, the two guards unconscious at his feet. It had taken weeks of clever planning, but they had at last discovered a way to infiltrate the palace, the sultan and sultana none the wiser. He only wished they could have chosen a method without so many risks.

A panel opened in the marble flooring of the throne room and Regina emerged, grateful that the sultan and his mad kadin hadn't discovered the oldest of the hiding places in the palace. She held a small vial in one hand and a dagger in the other. She threw the bottle to the floor and sliced her palm open with the dagger dripping blood onto the powder that was one stored inside the broken vial. She knelt down and gazed into the crimson pool, weeping softly.

"You will be avenged!" she cried joyfully. "Marian sister of my heart, you will be avenged." She rose to her feet and approached the thrones and wrote a single word in blood on the seats of both thrones.

"We will all be avenged!" she hissed. "They will use the potion tonight. Is everything ready?"

"Our man is in place ready to transport them to safety. But what of the others, Regina? Our friends..."

"They are too heavily guarded but fear not Neal. As we prepare for battle beyond the palace walls, so shall they within. It is the Goddess's will." She smiled. "You play your part well. Your parents having sent you away to university has worked to our advantage. The sultan does not recognize you as the son of David and Snow."

"He paid all of Grandfather's adopted grandchildren little notice except for the offspring of Bae and Emma. I've grown my facial hair a bit more as a precaution."

"Excellent. We must hurry. The antidote must be administered within the first twenty-four hours of ingestion or the potion will do its work."

"The valide's child?"

"Will not be harmed. It will slumber peacefully in her womb. Come...there's is much to do."

Just before midnight a young slave from the kitchens wheeled a serving cart to the guarded doors of the harem. The servings on the plates were little more than scraps, all the kitchen staff had been permitted to serve the royal family. A young girl had been caught adding an extra piece of cheese onto the valide's plate and was now in the dungeon awaiting punishment in a manner the sultana saw fit.

The guards opened the door and pushed the serving cart at Jiminy, nearly knocking him over. "Serve the rats, rat!" one barked and slammed the door behind him.

Jiminy glanced down at the minuscule portions and frowned, dividing what little was on his plate among the other three. The valide's eyes widened. "No, Jiminy, you must eat too."

"You need this more than I do my lady valide. You have your child to think of. Take it."

"We will not have you starve. You will share my plate." Rumple said firmly, admiring the young man's resolve.

"My lord!"

"Please. You have been kind to us and I will not take no for an answer."

"They have not even given you anything to eat with..."

"Nor have they since they locked us away, but we make do," Belle said bravely, picking up a piece of cold steak with her hands, breaking it into smaller pieces with great difficulty.

"We were fortunate they used a cart this time. Normally they kick the plates in and spill most of it," Raihana confessed sadly. "We've had to use some of our water to keep the floor clean when they do..." Tears streamed down her cheeks. "Were our portions not so small I would never DARE eat from a floor! Damn you Rolando!"

"My rose… Your Highness…" Jiminy began, his heart aching for her.

"You may call me Raihana. I am no longer a princess in my brother's eyes."

"You are to me."

As Belle was about to sip her tea, she sniffed the cup.

"Rumple! The Goddess has sent us a sign. We shall be free!" she whispered urgently.

"What do you mean?"

"Our tea! Do you not recognize the taste of the Ozian poppy?"

"I do indeed. The Sleep of Death!"

"My lord, what are you saying?" Jiminy asked.

"Our clever children outside the palace have given us a means of escape. Drink, dearies! To others it will appear as if we are dead, but we will not be. We will awaken safely beyond the palace walls!"

Jiminy glanced over at the princess. "I don't understand..."

"Regina has managed to deceive Rolando and have the Sleep of Death potion put into our tea. We will not be able to move or speak for some time...just long enough for us to be removed from the palace. My brother will believe we are dead...and have us taken somewhere remote to be buried alive. He wants to be rid of us and a memorial in the royal cemetery will not suit him. Bae will have someone on the outside collect us and administer the antidote. It must be given within twenty-four hours or we will fall into a deathlike sleep," she whispered.

"Very clever indeed!" he whispered back.

Moments later the sultan and valide fell upon their pallets unconscious.

"Jiminy, something's wrong! Why are we not asleep as they are?" Raihana's voice rose in hysteria.

He crawled over to the valide and picked up her cup. "Raihana, the valide and sultan's cups have the potion!" He pointed to the pink residue at the bottom of Belle's cup. "We have been tricked!"

"No! No, Mama! Papa!" she screamed.

The doors to the harem opened, the sultan standing in the doorway with a satisfied smirk on his lips. "Send the rat to the kitchens and my sister to the tower. Dispose of them in the forest."

"You bastard!" Raihana hissed as two guards seized her and placed her in chains. "Enjoy your crown while you can brother! I will find a way to take it from you!"

Rolando laughed cruelly. "No one will support you. I will make it known that you have gone mad in your grief and not taken proper care of yourself so that you now have a disease that makes you contagious to all, before I send you to Avacour."

"No! Raihana!" Jiminy cried, struggling against his own bonds, the thought of his beautiful princess in the hands of the slave merchants of Avacour that sold women for pleasure and perversion terrifying him.

"Take them away."

Once the princess and her slave had been removed, Rolando glared down at the sleeping forms of his parents. "No longer will anyone think me inferior to you!" he sneered.

"My liege? I have come for the bodies."

"Wrap them in carpets. I do not want anyone to know they are dead...yet...and take them to the forest for burial."

The servant gently rolled the unconscious former sultan and his valide into carpets from the hall and carried them out to the wagon, fearful of how his commanders would react when they learned of his failure.

"I am so sorry my lord, my lady valide," he whispered and climbed onto the cart, signaling the horse into a trot. He stopped the cart a few miles outside the palace gates and unloaded the carpets, setting them down on the ground. Two people wearing hooded cloaks stepped out from behind the trees. One of them tossed a sack of coins at the driver. As he was about to open the pouch and count, the other unrolled the carpets they'd been placed in and howled in rage.

"We asked for all of them! Where is the princess!?" he demanded, shoving the cart driver up against the trunk of a tree.

"They took her before I arrived."

"Took her where?" the female pushed down the hood of her cloak.

"My lady Snow...she's been taken to the Dark Castle..."

"Raihana! Oh no! NO...we must go back! We must go back!" Rumple cried weakly, his eyes fluttering open. "We cannot leave her there!"

"We'll find a way to get her out! I swear on my life we'll find a way to get to her, Papa!" David vowed.

Belle sobbed in her husband's arms. "I cannot lose all of my children...I cannot!"

"My lady valide, trust in the Goddess. She will return Raihana to you." Regina pleaded.

"Selene our mother, watch over our child, please!" Belle prayed.

"We must get you back to the camp. You cannot help her in your weakened states."

"Raihana," Belle moaned.

There were no celebrations to be had once the cart reached Bae and Emma's camp. Everyone feared for the life of the princess and rescuing her would be far more difficult now that she was imprisoned in the Dark Castle.

The former sultan and valide were confined to their beds for a week for rest and nourishment, the last of the potion having being expelled from their bodies. On the seventh day Rumple called his eldest adopted son to his bedside.

"Assemble what forces we have. We must find another way to infiltrate the palace...or pray to the goddess help can be found within. There are many others enslaved beyond its walls with your sister and we must free them all, but we cannot with such small numbers. Our civilian allies must be trained if we are to meet Rolando's forces and defeat them."

"What if he does not send them?"

"He will," the former sultan's eyes narrowed. "Regina has told me the goddess has sent her a message...and she has delivered it to my son. And he cannot refuse to accompany them. To do so will show he is not worthy to take his place among the divine."

"Has she told you where this will be?"

"Yes, and this is to our advantage. It is place we have fought before, his troops have not."

Bae grinned. "The Goddess favors us, Papa."

A shrill scream echoed through the throne room at dawn the following morning, bringing several guards and the sultan to Drizella's aid.

"What is this!" she yelled, pointing to her seat.

The sultan approached his own throne to see that his seat had also been defaced.

"What does this mean?" the sultana demanded.

"I must take my rightful place among the divine, my love...and here is where it will be." the sultan boasted.

A single word was written in blood on the soft silken cushion.

Shahir.


	4. Seeds of Rebellion

Azarajan/Agrabah Border

Two days later

A cavalry of horsemen led by Prince Consort Aladdin of Agrabah approached the border between their two lands in an attempt to seek an audience with Sultan Rolando hoping to disprove some of the rumors he and Sultana Jasmine had been hearing from traders passing through the realms regarding the state of their adoptive family. The young royals were discovered by Sultan Rumplestiltskin twenty years earlier living on the streets of Azarajan, Jasmine having been sent there by her birth father's cruel vizier Jafar in hopes that she would die of starvation before the sultan discovered she was the true heir to the throne of Agrabah. The former sultan and his valide took the two children into their home and ruled Agrabah as regents until Jasmine took the throne herself at age twenty. It was no shock to the rest of the family that she'd chosen her best friend Aladdin as her Prince Consort.

"You cannot pass," the leader of the Azarajan group greeted him coldly.

"Why not? I am the Prince Consort of Agrabah...and a citizen of this country. Who are you to refuse me?" Aladdin demanded.

"I am Felix, High Commander of the Royal Army of Azarajan."

"A commander with an obvious lack of manners. You will show me the proper respect befitting a man of my stature!"

The prince's guards chuckled. A prince consort, he was and raised in a royal household but still had that boy from the streets attitude when the occasion called for it. The prince dismounted and approached the younger guard. "Is there something wrong with your hearing boy?"

"Your Highness..." one of the prince's guards called out in warning just before an arrow struck him in the chest. Aladdin drew his sword, not wanting to shed the blood of his own countrymen yet unwilling to surrender in a provoked attack even if he and his men were severely outnumbered and he and his opponent were equally matched, both having been trained well by Baelfire. Felix waited patiently for his opponent to leave his opening and struck, knocking the prince to the ground. he was quickly restrained by several of Felix's men and forced into chains.

"Take him to the Dark Castle. Inform the sultan we have a new contestant for the games. The bodies of his men...take them to the desert...the vultures will pick them clean."

"You fools!" Aladdin snarled. "My sultana knows where I am, and she will send our forces to search for me when I do not return!"

"She will be disappointed." He turned to the soldier standing beside him. "Send a message to the sultana that the consort has been killed...in Wonderland."

"Yes, Sir!"

Keith grinned. The sultan's plan was a clever one. The nations of Wonderland and Agrabah would be too busy fighting with each other to support Baelfire and his pathetic army. The sultan was furious with his army's lack of progress in locating what was left of them and suspected they were attempting to rally support in other lands.

He rode back to the sultan's tent. "My liege. We have the Prince Consort of Agrabah."

"And you've sent word Wonderland is responsible?"

"Yes."

"Baelfire...have you located him?"

"No, my liege but we will."

"You'd better! And prepare your finest soldiers. We will hold the games tonight."

Robin and his friends were shoved into a cell with a dozen other men, all of them stripped of all of their clothing and given nothing but loincloths to cover themselves with, forced to drink and eat from horse troughs.

"Better to die down here than up there," one of the men said bitterly, his chest and torso covered with bruises and cuts. "I would rather die down here than be forced to fight every night for their amusement!"

"Is that what they do?" a man named Little John asked.

"Yes. We are to fight the sultan's guards. They do not kill us, simple enjoy beating and cutting us up while the sultan and his kadin dine...or pleasure each other. It depends on what the sultan is in a mood for. Never in our former sultan's time have I seen such decadence!"

"Be careful what you say. They will send you to the hooks!" another spoke up.

"What are the hooks?" Robin demanded.

"They are being built as we speak. The palace walls are being built higher with sharp hooks placed in them...it is a popular form of torture in Avacour. The victim is tossed onto them to die a slow, painful death and afterwards the vultures feast on their corpses."

"I do not understand...how did the sultan become such a...madman?"

"It is rumored he always was but hid his dark nature well...even attempting to smother his sister in her sleep and that is why she has breathing difficulty."

A guard passing by threw a bucket filled with salt water on the prisoners. Many of them screamed in pain as the salt seeped into their wounds. "No talking! Spend your time resting up. You'll all be in the games tonight."

Robin had no intentions of dying. He had to stay alive for his son. He made himself a space in the farthest corner of the cell and lay down to sleep, dreaming of the day when he would finally be reunited with Roland and they would escape their prison.

"...LET ME OUT!" Raihana screamed, pounding on the iron door with her fists. "You bastards! You can't keep me locked up in here! You can't! I am the princess of Azarajan!"

The door swung open and the sultana entered flanked by two guards. The men seized the princess and dragged her over to the corner of the room. The sultana kneeled down beside her, smiling devilishly. "I could have you given to them for their amusement," she said. "They do enjoy deflowering maidens."

The two guards leered at her.

"Bitch!" Raihana hissed. "I do wish my mother had gotten rid of you!"

"But she didn't. Now she, the old man and the brat she carried in her belly are rotting in the ground and you dear, will make us a fortune on the slave block in Avacour." She turned to the two guards. "If we find she's been damaged in any way before she is sent to Avacour, you will be castrated and thrown on the hooks. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, my lady sultana."

Maya pushed a silver serving cart into the room. The sultana took the goblet and held it out to Raihana.

"Drink it."

"No."

The sultana nodded to the guards. One of them held the princess while the other forced her lips apart while the sultana poured the water laced with opiates down her throat. "Your stay in this room will be as uncomfortable as the harem if you continue to disobey me, Raihana."

"Go...to...the...Underworld and rot!"

The sultana rose to her feet. "What are you looking at girl! Get back to work or I'll have you whipped again!" she screamed at Maya. The terrified young woman scurried out of the room, cringing as she recalled the brutal beating she and Nova endured at the sultana's hands with the sultan's encouragement. Nova was now in another cell in the Dark Castle severely ill from the infection that set in her wounds.

Once the door closed behind her, Raihana huddled in the corner of the room, as terrified as she had been as a child of seven, struggling to breathe while her own brother held a pillow over her face. The assault had taken her by surprise, she assumed Rolando loved her but the vile words he uttered in her ears were a harsh reminder that he would have no rivals to his inheritance. She didn't dare speak the truth knowing her parents would never believe her. Their children were perfect in their eyes. Yet, somehow Emma and Bae had suspected the truth.

"You will not be defenseless again, Your Highness," Emma said to her the evening of her thirteenth birthday. "And there are more dangers you face now that you are blossoming into womanhood. We will prepare you to protect yourself should the need arise."

"Papa will not be angry?"

"The sultan will not be told, Your Highness," Bae spoke up. "As much as it troubles me to do so, this secret must stay between the three of us. We will come and fetch you after you retire to your chambers for the evening to conduct your lessons and return you in time for you to sleep properly. I must warn you, you will be sore at times after your lessons but the pain you will feel now will be worth the knowledge and skill you gain."

Oh Bae, Emma, what use are those lessons to me now, she thought sadly. I could not protect anyone.

She felt her eyelids grow heavy and lay down to sleep.

Jiminy was shoved through the kitchen doors. "New rat for you!" a guard called out. He heard a woman cackle as she stepped out of the pantry, yanking on Pinocchio's ear.

"Well at least this one's older and a bit more useful." She shoved Pinocchio over to a large tub filled with dishes that Roland and several other children were washing. "I want those scrubbed until I can see my face in them." She grabbed a large rolling pin off the table and stalked over to Jiminy, "Don't be thinking that because you're a tall one I can't cut you down to size." She swung the rolling pin like a club and delivered a hard blow to his stomach. Jiminy sank to his knees gasping in pain.

"But...I've...done...nothing to you."

"Nor will you if you don't want my niece to be sending you to the block or the hooks." Jiminy cringed, now recalling that the cook, Hazel was the sultana's aunt and as vicious as her niece. "Now get up boy! There's work to be done!"

There were also two guards stationed in the kitchen to make certain no one had any ideas of turning any of the equipment into weapons. Hazel worked her slaves hard, giving them little time to rest. While she was walking to the stove she slipped on a puddle on the floor.

"PISS! PISS!" she screamed. "Which one of you filthy rats pissed on my floor!"

Jiminy glanced over at Pinocchio, seeing the front of his breeches stained. The terrified child ran behind the washtub whimpering in fear. Fearing what the cook would do his nephew, he grabbed a ladle and dosed the front of his own breeches with water. Hazel rose to her feet, her eyes blazing. "So, it was YOU!"

"I've needed to use..."

The guards threw him to the floor. "You rest when I say you do," she snarled. "You're going to scrub this entire kitchen and if you skip one inch I will have the skin whipped off you. You are to have no food either until you finish and if I catch any of you giving him one morsel, you'll be beaten with him! Am I understood!"

"Yes, Lady Hazel," the terrified children chorused.

Robin and the other men in the cells were awakened later that night and taken to what was once the former sultan's grand ballroom for the 'games'. The sultan, his kadin and the majority of the royal guard were all seated at the large dining table enjoying a grand feast that the prisoners longed for even a crumb of. The sultan rose from his seat. "A strong group of men. They will give us hours of enjoyment tonight. Begin!"

Felix and several of his strongest men stepped into the center of the ballroom. Three large poles were brought out and Robin, John and another man were shackled to them yet given enough chain to move about in attempts to escape the guards. Robin smirked. Those were shackles he'd been taught ways to free himself of since they were larger than the customary ones used.

Foolish boy. Just the right twist of my wrist and I'll be out, he thought. He nodded to John and their companion. As the guards approached with whips in their hands, the men twisted their wrists in the shackles and slowly maneuvered their hands free of the cuffs, not knowing that freeing themselves so easily was simply part of the game. The three men raced toward the dining table and jumped onto it, kicking the contents onto the diners' laps.

"Get them you fools, get them!" the sultan snarled, his thighs burning from the hot soup that had been dumped into his lap.

The other prisoners could barely contain their amusement at seeing their tormentors on the receiving end for a change. Robin tackled one of the guards to the floor and yanked his keyring off the sash of his breeches. "Free the others!" he commanded Little John.

Just as they all reached the door, the guards seized them and shoved them against the wall.

"I should send all of you to the hooks for the vultures to feast," the sultan growled. "But...I will have greater pleasure seeing you cower beneath the whip. Thirty lashes." He smirked at his kadin. "Which one would you like, my dear?"

"That one," she purred, pointing at Robin.

Felix pressed a button in the wall and sets of shackles descended, these ones just the right size for their prisoners. Moments later cracks of the whips followed by cries of pain could be heard within the ballroom. Servants passing by shivered with fear, praying to the Goddess for the unfortunate souls within.

Atlantica/Azarajan Border

It had been years since she'd seen the former sultan and the valide but Zelena always remembered their kindness to her despite her profession. She owned one of the most successful brothels in the seven kingdoms, but her house had many more purposes other than the pursuit of sensual pleasure, its most important one as a spy for the House of Gold and their allies.

"You do not know how grateful we are to the Goddess that the rumors of your death were false," Zelena handed the former sultan a goblet of wine.

"Now it is our daughter that is in danger," Belle said sadly. "We are attempting to infiltrate the palace, but it is much more difficult now. We must call upon our allies for help if we stand any chance of rescuing Raihana and the others imprisoned in Arcadia."

"My lord, my lady valide, I fear the only ally you may have is here."

"Why?" Rumple demanded.

"My girls that were in the company of the guards at the Agrabah border tell me that the sultan has captured the Prince Consort and sent word to the sultana he has been killed on Queen Anna's orders."

"My son is attempting to start a war between Agrabah and Wonderland? To what purpose!"

"To conquer both as Zozo attempted to do my love," Belle brushed tears from her eyes. "All the warnings we did not see but others have..."

"We must send messengers to both queens that the sultan attempts to create a conflict between them as a diversion until his own forces invade," Queen Ariel announced.

"Melody and I will go," spoke up King Eric, indicating himself and their heir.

"And my girls and I will do our part," Zelena vowed.

"You always have dearie," Rumple said softly.

"Eric, please be careful," Ariel pleaded.

"We will, Mama, "Melody vowed.

"My girls will accompany you as witnesses. My lord, my lady valide, is there anything you need us to do in the meantime?" Zelena inquired.

The couple thought for a moment, not wanting to put their friends in any more danger than they were but they were also desperate to save their daughter from the sultan's clutches. It was difficult to think of such a cruel beast as their son and it grieved Belle to see her husband blaming himself for their son's madness. He spent many nights lying awake wondering what they could have done differently. She had those thoughts herself.

"The important thing is finding a way inside the palace again," Rumple reminded them. "Regina is on the inside in hiding but now that my son is having those walls constructed and a moat surrounding the palace, we cannot tunnel through as was done before."

"Or we can hope those inside will attempt to fight their way out," Belle mused aloud.

"It's too risky, my kadin. They are not trained soldiers."

Belle frowned at him. "They do not need to be. The desire for freedom will give them strength!"

"We do not know how strong our son's forces inside the palace are."

"Rumple, it is my belief that the number of the sultan's captives is far greater than his security force. He has been sending most of his troops to secure the borders. Zelena, do you think you may be able to send some of your girls to their camps?" She stood up, pacing as she thought. "We will need exact numbers from each camp as well as the layouts of them."

Rumple beamed with pride. "You plot like a sultan, my kadin."

"I plot like a sultan and a valide. I learned from the best of both," she declared proudly.

Zelena rubbed her hands together. "I will send teams. Half of my pretties will distract the guards while the others obtain the information you need. It is a brilliant plan my lady valide!"

"Zelena, this is also dangerous. We do not want your girls being hurt...or killed," Rumple murmured.

"We know the dangers we face in our occupation my lord, but my pretties are not defeated easily. Azarajan is our home and if our lives are the cost we must pay to secure our freedom then we will do so." Zelena rose from her chair. "We will begin tonight. Come my lord, my lady valide. You are exhausted after your long journey and must rest. My lady valide, I have also prepared you a tonic of nutrients for the child you carry. You will take it also my lord as it relieves distress."

"Thank you, Zelena."

Early the following morning the king and Crown Princess of Atlantica set sail for Agrabah while a caravan carrying a group of Zelena's finest courtesans and spies departed for the borders to begin their own mission.

"...Jiminy...Jiminy...Jiminy! You gotta wake up. You gotta wake up 'fore ole Hazel comes in and has you whipped!"

Jiminy opened his eyes to find a frantic Pinocchio and Roland standing over him. He'd collapsed from exhaustion and hunger hours earlier, but the kitchen was spotless. "Pinocchio...please...stop shaking me..." he pleaded hoarsely and sat up slowly. Roland grabbed a cup of water and handed it to him and one of the girls gave him a plate of cheese and bread.

"You gots to eat slow or you're gonna bring it up...that's what my mama says," she advised.

"Where...where are the guards?"

Roland made a face. "Sleepin' and they smell like ale. Hope they don't wake up for a long time!"

Jiminy broke several pieces of bread and cheese and handed them to the children. "Did any of you eat yet?"

They shook their heads. "We gotta wait till they bring the plates in an eat what's left. Hazel keeps the other stuff locked up." answered Pinocchio.

"Then how did you get...?"

"Stole it off the big plate 'fore Hazel had em take it in to the sultan. They gots enough." Roland smirked.

"Roland! By the Goddess if anyone saw you!"

"My papa taught me how to steal stuff 'fore people noticed it was gone."

He glanced toward the door nervously. "We'll need to eat this quickly before Hazel catches on." They all heard the door open and froze in terror, expecting it to be Hazel. Instead it was Maya Blue pushing the long silver serving cart.

"Quickly children, quickly!" she urged. The children grabbed plates and platters off the cart. Roland held out a sack and the others dumped the contents of the plates into the sacks, though a great feast had been prepared for the royal couple there was plenty of leftovers that the kitchen staff was ordered to dispose of but Maya, Nova and the children had been stockpiling it.

"What...what are you doing?" Jiminy whispered. Rolando removed several loose bricks from the wall and shoved the sacks inside. Jiminy peered into the hole, astounded to see a large cache of food.

"She's comin!" one of the girls cried. Roland replaced the bricks in the wall and he and the other children started putting the dishes in the tub to wash when Hazel strolled into the kitchen.

"Well rat, you survived the night." she said to Jiminy and swung her rolling pin at him. "You piss on my floor one more time and you'll be skinned alive. What are you gawking at girl?" she snapped at Maya. "Get the rest of those dishes in here to be washed and take the rest of the rats their breakfast!"

Breakfast for those imprisoned in the tower and the cages was a small bowl of gruel, a slice of stale bread and water. While Maya was putting the portions on her cart Hazel went into the pantry. Roland carefully removed one of the bricks from the wall and tossed the young woman several loaves of fresh bread and blocks of cheese. She concealed them on the second shelf of the cart and wheeled it out into the hallway. Jiminy seized her arm.

"You must tell me. My papa...and the princess...are they alive?"

She nodded. "They are."

"Will you give them a message for me...I will get them out...I will find a way to get them out!" he vowed.

She smiled. "I am reminded of a favorite saying of the late valide. Love is hope, love fuels our dreams. I will give them your message. We will all escape this prison. I do not believe the Goddess has abandoned us."

"Rat! There is work to be done! Get in here!" Hazel screeched.

The days passed by slowly for the princess. The daily dosages of opiates she'd been given allowed her to create her own fantasy world where her beloved mother and father still lived and she was a child again, running through the halls of Serenity with her stepbrothers and sisters, swimming in the bathhouse or playing a game of hide and seek in the gardens. It would only last for several hours.

"Papa, Papa, where are you..." she called out, hearing a giggle in the bushes. "Are you here? No...it must be here..."

"She is going mad," one of the guards remarked, observing her through the bars of her prison door. "The pashas of Avacour won't want to bed a madwoman."

"It's her body they want, not her mind. She's a pretty little piece and I'd enjoy breaking her if the sultan allowed it."

Suddenly the princess collapsed to the floor in tears. "I'm sorry Mama...I'm sorry Papa...I couldn't save you!" She grabbed her goblet of water and drank it down. "I don't want to feel it anymore...I don't want to feel the pain..."

Maya stood outside the cell with the serving cart, her heart breaking for the headstrong girl she once knew. A few doors down was Jiminy's father, though ill never allowed himself to succumb to despair.

One of the guards leered at Maya as he opened the door. "Can show you a better path to Paradise than the one you want to be on."

She shivered. Another of the Goddess's priestesses, Tinkerbell was imprisoned in the Dark Castle for assaulting one of the sultan's guards when he attempted to rape her, and she'd used the only weapon she had at her disposal...her teeth. The sultan had ordered all of her teeth to be removed to avoid a repeat incident, but the guards didn't dare approach her again in fear that she would still find a way to strike back.

"Careful you fool! You want her to bite it off like the other one tried to do!"

"No!"

"Then save it for Zelena and her whores!"

Maya found the princess weeping in the corner when she entered the cell. "Your Highness...please listen carefully...we will free you...I vow to the Goddess we will free you."

"There is no freedom...only death," Raihana wept. "Like my mama, like my papa...all my family..."

"You have a champion my princess.."

"Jiminy is dead…" she mumbled.

"No, no...he is alive. You must believe. Recall the words of the valide. Love is hope, love fuels our dreams!"

"There is no hope. Only death."

Maya shook her head. Somehow, they would all have to find a way to motivate their princess. She was their last hope of peace and prosperity.

After their beatings earlier in the week, the game contestants had been left to their own devices in the ballroom. Robin had just woken from his sleep when he observed a tile in the floor being pushed aside and a familiar face emerge.

"Regina..." he whispered.

"Robin!" she gasped. She tossed her sack filled with her healing remedies out of the hole and crawled over to him.

"Go...before you are discovered."

"No! I will tend to you." She handed him a vial filled with an amber liquid. "This will numb the pain while I apply the salve." He drank it down, the potion taking affect ever several minutes. She carefully applied the salve to his bloody, bruised back, images of applying the lash to the sultan and his kadin flashing before her eyes. "We will leave this prison together and we will crush our jailers at Shahir!" she hissed.

"You've had a vision?" Little John asked her while she tended him.

"I have. The Goddess's will be done...we must purge our land of the evil of the sultan."

"You have a secret chamber below the palace! Are you able to travel beyond the walls?"

She shook her head sadly. "There is now a moat surrounding the palace. If we attempted to tunnel through it, we would drown in the process."

"We must escape. I must find my Roland!" Robin cried.

"And we will," Regina vowed.

Moments later they heard footsteps. Regina gathered up her supplies and returned to her sanctuary. She knelt at the statue of the Goddess. "Selene my mother, give me a sign, give me a sign that not all hope is lost."

A piece of concrete fell to the floor at her feet and a small amount of water splashed onto the floor. The sorceress smiled. "Time withers away what man does not destroy."

Shahir

Three weeks later

The former sultan's army made camp on the field where they achieved their last great victory, the defeat of the combined forces of Avonlea and Agrabah, all of them frustrated by their inability to assist their friends trapped inside the palace. The outside walls were patrolled day and night and only those granted audience by the sultan were permitted to enter, after their caravans were searched for contraband. Still they would not give up. They concealed themselves in the forest outside the palace walls, surveying the royal army posted outside, learning each officer's routines…and vices. Along with visitors from Avacour, the sultan also allowed his soldiers to have dalliances with the ladies from Zelena's house, seeming to forget that the madam's loyalty was to his predecessor, not him. Zelena however, could be quite a convincing actress when the occasion called for it as well as ingenious. Two days later a caravan departed for the palace with a few stowaways inside.

Arcadia Palace

Azarajan

Regina awoke at dawn that morning, the voice of the Goddess in her mind.

Now, child. Now you must act.

And the Goddess had been kind to her making her recall a book once in the possession of the Valide Tatiana, a book she believed had been lost years ago but the walls of her chamber, slowing eroding away from the water of the palace moat had at last surrendered their secret.

The palace corridors were deserted in the evenings, all the guards and the royal couple indulging themselves in their lusts thinking there was no threat from within their high walls. Regina found their naiveté amusing. She walked into the kitchens to find a group of children including young Roland asleep on the floor without blankets or pillows and the gypsy Jiminy. She shook him awake.

"L…Lady Regina!" he gasped.

"Hush!" She handed him the potion she'd brewed. "Put this in the meal for tomorrow evening."

"W…What will it do?"

"It will keep the sultan, the sultana and the guards here distracted…so that we may make our escape. Do you wish for freedom, Jiminy?"

"Yes!"

"Then we must make it happen."

Word spread quickly throughout the palace among the prisoners that an escape was being planned. They relayed their messages carefully using a variety of methods leaving the guards or the sultan none the wiser. Though he had been born to great parents, the Sultan Rolando was proving to be a great fool.

"We're leaving here tonight boys!" Leroy whispered to his brothers in their cell.

"Shut up over there or your tongues will be cut out and mounted on the walls!" a guard shouted. Another grabbed a bucket and tossed salt water onto them, all of them bruised from working long hours in the gardens immortalizing the sultana in stone. In the cell next to them, Robin and his friends remained silent, their own wounds from the royal couple's lashes still healing. "Where the is the bitch with the food? We're starving down here!"

Robin snorted in disgust. The royal guard knew nothing of hunger, taking pleasure in taunting their captives with their feasts, making certain they saw that the leftovers were thrown away. One of them tossed a chicken bone with a small amount of meat into the cell, disappointed when none of the men attempted to take it. Baiting the men into fighting for food like animals was another of the games and those who refused to were taken before the royal couple for punishment.

Robin turned his head away from them and smiled wondering what clever plan Regina had concocted to aid their escape.

"…Wha'cha got Jiminy?"

Jiminy pressed a finger to the boy's lips. "Not so loud Pinocchio. We do not want Hazel to hear. I am hoping this will help us free Papa...free all of us." He uncorked the vial and dumped the contents into the stew pot. "I need you to keep stirring this for me. Roland, would you bring me the bowl of potatoes please?"

The little boy was smirking when he handed the bowl to him. "Dump a lot of it in then!"

"Shhh...quickly...stir it in," he whispered.

The child stirred rapidly, giggling mischievously as he imagined what it would do.

"Rat! Is that done yet!" Hazel yelled.

"Yes, Mistress Hazel."

The priestesses of the goddess entered the kitchen pushing their silver carts. Jiminy and the children helped them load the carts with the dishes for the evening meal and waited patiently in the kitchen to see what would happen.

In the courtyard, a compartment in the caravan opened and Bae, Emma, Henry and Neal climbed out. The caravan had been searched though not as thoroughly as it should have been when the guards' attentions were focused more on Zelena's women than their method of transportation and a few of them didn't want to wait until they were inside the palace to enjoy their favors instead choosing to take them against the palace walls. Emma, Bae, Neal and Henry crept up behind them and knocked them unconscious.

"Are you all right?" Emma asked one of the younger girls worriedly. She nodded.

"Come… the gatehouse is this way!" she cried.

The four members of the royal guard were astounded by the lack of discipline from the new army once they reached the gatehouse. Most of them were drinking or sleeping and others entertaining themselves with a group of Avacour slaves that had been delivered that morning.

"The sultan brings shame to the House of Gold! Is this ALL they do!" snarled Emma.

"Yes….and abuse the prisoners inside," confirmed a young woman from Zelena's group. "The lady Regina has created a diversion. We must be patient."

The rest of Bae and Emma's party departed two days after the caravan on foot and were now concealing themselves in the forests surrounding the castle, patiently awaiting the signal to attack. It was a risky move, they were severely outnumbered and desperately hoping that their friends could double their numbers with the prisoners inside.

A pale Hazel crawled through the kitchen doors a short time later. "W…Wh…What have you done….you…you…rat!" she hissed and collapsed to the floor vomiting.

"Jiminy, Jiminy….hurry!" Maya called out from the other side. He picked up Pinocchio and ran through the door with the other children close at his heels. He handed Pinocchio to Tinkerbell.

"Get him to safety," he pleaded.

"Jiminy, what're you doin?"

"I am going to find Papa. Maya, take me to him and the princess!"

As they ran through the halls, they encountered members of the palace guard vomiting or soiling themselves, the stench nauseating yet they continued on.

Robin and his fellow captors could not contain their own amusement watching their tormentors suffer for a change.

"Something you ate?" the outlaw teased, recognizing the legendary potion used by the late Valide Tatiana to remove an unwanted rival from the harem of Sultan Zozo.

"G…Gonna…skin you….rat…."

"Look…he soiled his drawers like a babe!" Little John taunted, grabbing the key ring out of the guard's hand. The other was in the fetal position on the floor vomiting, both helpless to prevent their prisoners from escaping. Throughout the palace and the Dark Castle prisoners were escaping in droves while their captors could only watch in frustration.

In the Dark Castle Robin and his men were shocked to discover the consort of the Sultana of Agrabah. Robin grabbed a set of the keys and unlocked the manacles securing him to the wall.

"I must get to Agrabah and warn the Sultana before she wages a war she cannot win!" Aladdin cried.

"You won't be able to ride anywhere in your condition," the outlaw reminded him, pointing to his thin frame. "We have all been starved and beaten and must recover first. We don't know how long that potion will last so we must hurry!"

Jiminy found his father in his cell sitting on the floor. "Papa!" he cried, horrified by his friend's condition. He was pale, thin and several of his wounds had become infected.

"Jiminy, what are you doing?"

"Getting you out of here!"

"You can't! We'll be killed! The guards…."

"Are suffering from a bit of a stomach ailment at the moment," Jiminy said coldly while he unlocked the chains with the keys he'd taken from the guard in agony out in the hall. He helped his friend to his feet.

"I'll take him," Henry offered.

The two men stared at the young boy in surprise.

"Y…You are of the old guard! How did you get in?"

"No time. Come, the potion will wear off eventually and we need to be as far away from here as possible when it does!"

"Take him to my nephew."

"Jiminy, where are you going?"

"The princess is a prisoner here too and I must find her! Maya! Take me to her!" he called out to the young priestess.

"This way!"

They raced up the stairs to the top of the tower, her guards on the floor, their uniforms soiled with their own waste and vomit. Fighting back his own nausea, Jiminy snatched the key ring out of one's hand and unlocked the door. The princess lay on the floor curled in the fetal position. He took her in his arms.

"My rose, oh what have they done to you?" he moaned.

"We must hurry Jiminy!" Maya whispered urgently. "If the guards recover we will all lose our heads on the block or worse...be picked apart by the vultures on the hooks!"

"Better get a move on before that potion wears off." Leroy advised.

Jiminy stood up still holding the sleeping princess.

Once they emerged from the tower they could see the guards and the royal couple dashing to the house of easement in fits of rage and threatening to skin or boil alive those responsible for their predicament. The sultana, unable to restrain herself, doubled over and vomited onto the base of her prized fountain and the sultan was forced to relieve himself in it.

"Rats...you filthy stinking rats..." Rolando snarled. "Catch them and bring them all here. I want to see them burn!"

"Can't..." Felix moaned.

Roland stuck his tongue out as he ran past them. "Ha ha...you messed yourself!"

"Roland, stop that and run!" shouted his father.

"Over here, quickly, quickly!" Emma waved her hands in the air from the open gate. Several caravans being driven by the former sultan's army awaited the prisoners outside the walls.

"How long before that potion wears off, Regina?" Bae demanded.

She grinned. "We will be at a safe distance before the sultan and his lot are well enough to take action."

Roland giggled wickedly. "Yeah cause we made sure we put a LOT of the stuff in the soup an taters to keep 'em busy."

It wasn't until late in the evening of the following day that anyone left in the palace was well enough to do anything and without their slaves, they were forced to spend the time cleaning up the messes they'd made of themselves and the palace themselves, the stench so overpowering that not even the wildlife dared go anywhere near Arcadia.

Shahir

The princess floated in and out of consciousness from the safety of Jiminy's wagon at the camp. She was still asleep when he heard a knock on the door. Regina stood on the other side with Robin.

"You must come with me. Our leaders wish to speak with you."

"I cannot leave her."

"I will look after her Jiminy," Maya said softly.

"Thank you Maya."

"Come…it is not far from here."

They led him out into the forest where two cloaked figures waited.

"Why do you wish to join our fight?" one of them, a male, inquired in a disguised voice.

"The sultan has promised us peace and prosperity but has given us pain...and fear."

"You are a slave in the royal household?"

"Yes."

"Do you have any information that will be useful to us?"

"The sultan has one final rival to his throne...and an attempt has already been made on her life. Now that the former sultan and valide have been called to the Goddess's bosom, I believe Princess Raihana is our last hope for peace and she must be protected!" Jiminy cried passionately.

"What proof do you have of this? We have heard many rumors concerning the princess's fate."

"I believe in her. She is stronger than she is given credit for, intelligent and she cares for the people. She makes those of us who still live in the palace remember the golden age we once had...when we were equals to the royal family."

"She has been known to be cruel."

"Only to men who covet the crown not the woman!"

"You speak of the princess so passionately, Jiminy. Do you desire her?" the second figure, this one a female demanded.

"I love her and not for the crown she wears but as a woman!"

"Yet you are not with her now. Why did you abandon her?" the female seemed angry.

"I did not abandon her. The sultan had her imprisoned in the Dark Castle, drugged her, claimed she had a contagious illness and was mad...all so that he could have her removed in secret and sold into bondage with one of those..." He shivered. "degenerates who enslaves women to use in their perversions."

"Where is she now!" the male demanded.

"She is malnourished and the lady Regina suspects she had been given something to make her more...docile."

"Where IS she!" the woman shouted.

"She is at my camp in my wagon. She is safe," Jiminy insisted. The pair removed the hoods of their cloaks. Jiminy gasped in shock and knelt. "My lord Rumplestiltskin! My lady valide! But we thought you were...you were..."

"A deception we did not enjoy doing but necessary. Our son is destroying what it took most of our lives to maintain and he must be removed...by force if that is the price we must pay," Rumple said firmly.

"But how could you do that to Raihana? Do you know how devastated she was believing you were dead?" Jiminy glared at them defiantly.

"Unfortunately, we were not able to send word to her that we were alive," Belle sighed. "What has been done to her?"

"It is indeed opiates, my lady valide. The sultan has become addicted to them," Regina spoke up. "As would she and there will be some unpleasant after affects until her body purges itself of them."

"I will care for her," Jiminy vowed.

"Are you certain you are up to the task? She will lash out at you in rages, or she will have bouts of depression and sleeplessness."

"I will care for her," he insisted.

"You a brave and foolish young man."

"A foolish man I may be, my lady valide but it is my choice."

"Would you give your life for her if necessary?" Rumple demanded.

"I would," Jiminy answered without the slightest hesitation.

"The perhaps if the Goddess wills it, you will sit at my daughter's side as her chosen Consort. Come, we have much to discuss and there is little time."


	5. The True Heir

Jiminy braced himself for an icy reception when he unlocked the door to the wagon. He barely had time to duck when a vase flew struck the doorframe, mere centimeters from his face.

"You worthless vagrant!" Raihana snarled.

"Raihana, my rose…" he began, ducking this time when she threw one of his boots at him.

"You'll lose your head on the block if I don't separate it from your body first!" He backed out of the wagon as she tossed every object she could find at him and cursed in several languages, thankful she missed every time.

"Raihana, I assure you I….oh by the goddess woman will you stop throwing things at me long enough for me to explain!" he yelled.

"What do you intend to do with me, have your way with me? Never! I'll make you a eunuch first!"

Dammit, when is she going to tire of this nonsense and let me talk to her?

He'd been warned that the opiates would cause personality changes, but he hadn't been prepared for her to forget the brief courtship they had before she'd been taken away. He would have to begin his courtship all over again.

"Your Highness, please allow me to explain…."

"You get away from me you…oh!" she cried when her foot got caught on a rock and she tumbled to the ground.

"Your Highness!" Jiminy spun around and rushed to her side. There was blood on her foot that she was trying to wipe away with the skirt of her dress. "Let me look at that." He tried to inspect the injury himself, but she slapped his hands away.

"Don't you touch me you, you waste from a camel's arse!" She pushed him away and tried to stand up, crying out when her ankle throbbed in pain. Jiminy caught her in his arms and picked her up as she was about to collapse to the ground. "Put Me Down This Instant!" she demanded when he started carrying her back to the wagon.

"You can't even walk!" he protested. "Now stop being difficult and let me help you."

"You haven't seen difficult yet!"

He sighed. Part of him wanted to take her to the resistance camp and be done with her but his heart fought him, and she fought him all the way back to the wagon.

"If you're quite finished abusing me, Your Highness, I'd like to look at your foot," he said and lifted her skirt only a fraction to examine it. "I can feel nothing broken but it is swollen a bit. You'll need to stay off it for a day or so."

She glared at him. "And I suppose you'll be taking me now, won't you?"

"Is lovemaking all you think about?" he asked.

Her mouth dropped open. "I am not speaking of making love, you fool. When you take me, it will be rape! Nothing more."

"Your Highness, I am not in the habit of bedding every woman I encounter, and I would rather she came to my bed willingly. And only when we are properly wed in the goddess's holy temple," he added.

She scoffed. "Lies. You men of the lower classes all think the same…with your manhood, not your brains."

He glared at her. "Oh, and I suppose none of the so-called upper classes don't? You are deluding yourself Your Highness if that is what you believe."

"I am doing nothing of the sort. Many times, I observed the former sultan during receiving and he has been forced to give harsh punishments to men of the lower classes who have abused their women."

"You haven't seen any of noble birth brought up on such heinous charges?" Jiminy quizzed. She didn't respond. "Your silence is a sufficient answer for me. Now you should rest, and I'll find us something for dinner."

"You aren't going to starve me into submission?"

"Of course not!" He opened one of the shutters to allow some air into the cramped wagon. "And before you ask, no I am not going to suffocate you either."

"Why do insist on constantly being in my presence?"

He looked away.

"Why!?"

"Is it not obvious, Your Highness?" he asked sadly.

"I want you to tell me. I command you to tell me," she demanded regally. "And you will look at me when I speak to you!"

"I would give anything to have just one moment where you would not look at me with scorn and contempt and see that I love you, that I have almost from the moment I saw you," he confessed.

She stared at him, wondering if he'd gone mad. "Y...You...but that is impossible!"

"Why is it, my rose?"

"Why? I am a princess and you are...you are..."

"A commoner. A gypsy...a fool? I am all of those, but I am not such a fool that I would deny what my heart feels."

He sounded like every other suitor that came courting and had been promptly tossed out on his backside. They courted her with sweet words and expensive gifts but in the end, they all desired the same thing; the crown on her head and the prestige that came with it. She resigned herself to the belief that she would never find a husband who would love her, the woman, and not the crown.

"Do you think you are the first man to attempt to court me with sweet words?" she asked bitterly. "You are not. In fact, I cannot count how many of you there have been before I had you tossed out on your backsides! I know what you seek, and it is not my heart!"

"A fool seeks a crown, a man seeks the heart of a woman with or without a crown," he countered.

"But which are you...?"

He turned around so that he faced her. "I am a man who seeks the heart of a woman, but her crown is nothing more than a trinket atop her head that I have no need of."

"Lies!"

"If you believe I am lying why are you so curious?"

"I'm not! Give me my elixir!" she yelled.

He sighed. He also noticed that her gown was soaked with sweat, she was exhausted, her eyes filled with tears.

"Your Highness...you don't need it," he said gently.

"You don't tell me what I need. Give it to me!"

"I don't have it!"

"You're lying. You have it hidden and I will find it! I need it...I don't want to feel the pain anymore..." She slid off the cot before he had a chance to catch her and fell to the floor moaning in pain. "I just want to die..."

"No, my rose, no you don't..." he soothed, cradling her in his arms.

"Everything hurts," she sobbed.

"I know it does and I fear it will get worse before you are better." He picked her up and laid her back down on the cot. "It will take some time for your body to rid itself of the opiates the sultan has poisoned you with."

"My brother has done this? Why?"

"It doesn't matter now."

"Tell me!" she demanded.

"He...he planned to give you to the pashas of Avacour," Jiminy felt the bile rise in his throat. "...for their pleasure."

"I would rather die first!" she cried. "Oh...why did I not speak the truth all those years ago? Papa never would have crowned Rolando had he known. He tried to SMOTHER me! He has been trying for years and I feared they would not believe me, thinking I was attempting to slander my brother so that I could take the throne. Somehow Emma and Bae knew. They prepared me in case he tried again."

"He won't hurt you again. He'd have to get through me first," Jiminy said angrily.

It was difficult in those weeks, the rages continued along with the bouts of depression yet Jiminy stayed by her side the entire time, caring for her with gentleness and patience until the fog cleared from her mind and she began to recall the more pleasant times prior to their capture and welcomed his second courtship as much as his first.

"I am sorry," Raihana said shamefully to him one day when he awoke her from her slumber to serve her breakfast, the lira they made their wish on in her hands.

"I was told you would have your rages...and other symptoms until your body purged itself of the opiates you have been given, my rose."

"I had forgotten how we were with each other before they came for us."

"It was to be expected after everything you've experienced."

"You've had to court me all over again."

He reached out and caressed her hair. "I would court you a thousand times if that was what the goddess willed."

"Will you kiss me?" she pleaded.

"I…ahhh…are you certain it is not…?"

"I am. It is not the opiates talking. It is me."

He took a deep breath and lowered his head, his lips brushing against hers, gently at first until he began to feel his passions stirring and her lips parting in invitation to explore her mouth.

"Jiminy…" she moaned and wrapped her arms around him, pulling him onto the cot with her as he deepened the kiss.

"Raihana….my rose…."

"I love you."

"Oh, I do love you my rose, but we should not…not be here like this…" he protested, fearful that the former sultan or the valide would come upon them in a compromising position and he would find himself kneeling on the block and losing his head.

But goddess forgive him he could feel his body willing him to give in to desire and take her to Paradise as he kissed her and her own body responding as she lay beneath him. His hands seemed to have a will of their own as they pushed the skirt of her nightdress up and stroked her thighs and hers a will of their own when they reached under his tunic to caress his chest.

"Raihana…."

"Let me touch you…"

"We should stop…"

"I don't want to stop. I want to love you. I want you to love me…" She pulled his tunic off and threw it on the floor and cupped his face in her hands and kissed him.

"I do love you my rose but your first journey into Paradise should be on your wedding night." He broke their kiss and sat up, his back turned to her as he put his tunic back on.

"Jiminy, what's wrong? Tell me."

"I cannot deceive myself into thinking I can be more to you than a passing fancy and if I made love to you now I would take the gift that rightfully belongs to the man you marry."

"How can you say that? You are not a passing fancy to me and YOU are the only man I will give myself to! I love you Jiminy and you forget that my father was a commoner when he became sultan. I will have no other man at my side than you…if you will have me."

"A…Are you asking me to marry you?" he stammered.

"Will you rule Azarajan at my side, sire my heirs and love me as your sultana and your wife?" she asked softly.

"I…I don't know how to be a consort."

"Nor do I know how to be a sultana, but we will learn together my darling. But first we must take back our country."

"If we can. Raihana, there are not many soldiers left loyal to your father and we're only simple folk. They'd slaughter us and let the vultures pick our bones on the hooks. Or we face invasion from the forces of Agrabah and Wonderland once word of the sultan's schemes come to light."

"We must try," she insisted. "Bae and Emma have been training the people to fight during my convalescence and now it is our turn. My father, though I love him dearly, never fought a battle in his life. He was a negotiator and left the actual fighting to his commanders and my brother is the same. I will not be. I will fight for my throne myself!"

"Raihana!"

"I must!" she insisted.

"Then you will not fight alone." He took her hand in his and raised it to his lips. "I am not a soldier but I would fight for you with my last breath."

Later that night they met up with Bae and Emma in the field. Raihana's skills with the sword were rusty but she soon found her footing again and nothing pleased her more than to see her chosen consort picking up the sword to learn to fight along side her. His skills would by no means surpass those of a well-trained soldier, but he fought with a deep passion for his country and for the woman now intending to rule it. When their lessons were over they joined the soldiers and the people of Sherwood around the campfire. The valide and former sultan were also in attendance, the valide getting ready to hold one of her story times. Having a sudden inspiration, Jiminy went back to the wagon and brought out the chest they used to store their puppets in and he, Geppetto and Pinocchio used the puppets to perform the action in the story while Belle and Raihana narrated. Once the show was over Raihana stood up and addressed the group.

"I am aware that there are those among you having your doubts that I will not be able to rule our nation effectively, but I give you my vow here and now, that I will always put the needs of the people of Azarajan above my own. But I will not rule alone. I understand that one of my many duties as sultana will be that I must chose a consort and Jiminy is the man I have chosen."

Geppetto dropped the bowl of porridge he was holding.

"By the goddess's name! Jiminy, you're gonna be a sultan?" Pinocchio asked, his mouth agape.

"No, I will be Prince Consort," Jiminy corrected. "I am free to give the sultana advice if she asks for it but ultimately any decisions regarding the welfare of our nation are hers to make."

"Papa, I would like you to return to government, now as my royal Vizier. Will you accept?' Raihana inquired of her father.

"I will, poppet." Rumple replied with a smile.

"And Mama, I now reinstate you as Valide Sultan. Once my brother or sister is born of course," Raihana added with smile.

"Thank you darling," Belle said softly.

"My lady sultana, we must win the country back first!" Robin reminded her.

"And we will. Together."

"I can assure you the support of my sultana's forces," spoke up Aladdin.

"Zelena, may we rely on your service once again?"

"You may, my lady sultana. My pretties and I will scatter across the realm and bring back the information you need. I suspect you are inquiring as to where Rolando's forces are stationed?"

"I am. I intend to fight them on land and at sea."

Rumple beamed with pride watching his daughter taking on one of her first duties as the ruler of the realm, mobilizing her army for battle.

"Then we will meet at Shahir?" Regina inquired softly.

"That is where your vision tells you we must meet, yes?"

"It has, my lady sultana and with the goddess's grace we will all be avenged for the many wrongs done to us."

"Your Highness, ride ahead. Inform Princess Jasmine of our plans."

Aladdin smiled. "I will, my lady sultana."

Aladdin rode away that night with messages for his sultana and Queen Anna of Wonderland, warning both of Rolando's scheme to divide them to seize control of them. Another messenger was dispatched to the nearby realm of Atlantica, home of the most powerful navy in the seven kingdoms. She knew her brother would send similar dispatches to Avacour but the realm was better known for its decadence and debauchery than anything else. Their own armies were made from paid mercenaries.

Wonderland

A few days later a messenger arrived at the court of Queen Anna bearing the Agrabah standard.

"Your Majesty, my sultana requests an audience," he announced.

"Granted."

Jasmine walked into the throne room with an exhausted Aladdin at her side, bowing their heads with respect for their fellow sovereigns.

"Your Majesty, I have received disturbing news that the blame for my consort's capture and torture has been placed at your feet," Jasmine said sadly.

"Lies!" Anna snarled.

"Indeed they are Your Majesty," Aladdin spoke up. "I was captured by the sultan of Azarajan. His intent was to start a war between our nations, weakening us for an invasion by his own army."

"I have made a formal declaration of war against Sultan Rolando and I am told Princess Raihana has raised an army of 2000 troops and intends to take the throne from him by fighting him at Shahir and at sea. I am here to ask for your support on her behalf as well as my own."

"You shall have it!" Anna growled. "Will, dispatch the Rabbit to Cyrus and Alice. Tell them to take two of our strongest divisions to reinforce the Princess at Shahir and we will send ten of our naval ships to the borders. I only hope we can reach her in time." Anna smiled. "If Raihana succeeds, she will be the third Queen in her own right in the seven kingdoms."

"She will succeed for she has the one thing her brother never did, the love of the people," Jasmine said confidently.

Arcadia

"….She's done what?" Drizella demanded.

Bo backpedaled from the force of the sultana's anger. "Amassed an army of almost two thousand troops from the former sultan's army and…peasants. Word has also reached us that she's being reinforced by troops from Agrabah, Wonderland and Atlantica. They plan a ground attack at Shahir and a sea attack at the border."

Drizella paled. The combined forces of those three armies along with Raihana's own troops would outnumber them. "Like hell she will!"

She stormed out of the throne room and down the hall to the royal bedchamber where her weak fool of a husband had passed out after overindulging in the wine and opiates.

"Wake up you fool!" she yelled in his ear.

"Wha…."

She grabbed him by the shoulders and started shaking him. "While you've been here making a fool of yourself your sister has raised an army and intends to take the throne! She has three of the seven kingdoms ready to reinforce her. Now IF YOU WILL NOT GET UP OFF YOUR WASTREL ARSE AND DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT I WILL!"

"Like hell you will," he snarled and backhanded her with such force she fell to the floor. She slowly rose to her feet, her hand pressed against her bruised cheek.

"Don't you ever do that again!" she hissed.

"And don't you EVER try to usurp my authority again, bitch! You are my wife and there only two places you belong and it's time I reminded you of them." He threw her on the bed and moments later terrified screams could be heard inside the royal bedchamber.

Azarajan Border

Two days later

"Rolando's fleets have set up blockades here, here and here," Rumple was saying, pointing to various locations on the chart. "He is no fool. He will have anticipated us seeking assistance from our allies and will attempt to intercept them as they reach our borders."

"We may not be able to reach Shahir in time to reinforce Raihana's army, my lord," Aladdin said gravely.

"Then we must pray that the Goddess in her mercy will see our daughter and her people through to victory."

"Raihana, you do not have to do this. You do not have to fight in battle. Your people will fight for you," Belle wept several days later when her daughter emerged from her tent in full battle armor.

"Mama, I have to do this. For my people. For Azarajan." Raihana said and mounted her horse. "I will not let them march into battle alone and if the Goddess wills it, I will die fighting with them."

"Go with the Goddess darling," Rumple said softly.

The former sultan and valide brushed tears from their eyes weeping with unashamed pride in their eldest daughter while she rode away. She would at last liberate their people from the clutches of a merciless tyrant on the battlefield at Shahir...or die trying.

Two figures stood on the crow's nest of the Enchanting Melody, the flagship of Atlantica's royal navy holding spyglasses in their hands, gazing out at the fleet of warships that awaited them at the Azarajan border.

"Fifty by my count Father," spoke up the young woman.

"I have the same Melody."

"Your Majesty? Orders?" called up the captain.

"Load the guns!" Eric called down. "Signal the Wonderland and Agrabah fleets!"

A young cabin boy raced to the bow with two flags in his hands, waving them about frantically. The king and princess drew their swords.

On the Azarajan flagship a young sailor slid down the ropes from the crow's nest to the deck and raced to his captain's quarters, pounding as hard as he could over the noise within the cabin while his captain was being serviced by one of Avacour's finest courtesans.

"Captain, Captain..."

"Oh, don't stop!" the woman inside moaned.

"WHAT IS IT!" the captain barked.

"Warships sir! At least a hundred of them all bearing Agrabah, Wonderland and Atlantica flags!" the boy cried out. He heard a thump inside the cabin followed by the woman's furious screams and moments later the captain stepped out still partially dressed. "Up off your backsides and get to your stations!" he yelled at his crew. Female screams could be heard as several of them tossed their female companions overboard.

The sultana of Agrabah stood on the deck of her own flagship, sword in hand.

"My lady sultana, please I beg of you...you do not have to fight. Take sanctuary in your quarters."

"No! I will fight with you!" she insisted.

On the flagship of the Wonderland fleet, the royal ambassadors Alice and Cyrus also waited with swords drawn, ready to die if necessary to defend their country's honor. The Azarajan sultan's scheme nearly succeeded in the nations of Wonderland and Agrabah going to war with each other but the boy underestimated his sister and now the nations would fight together to defeat their common enemy.

Shahir

A beautiful white stallion raced out onto the fields of Shahir and upon it sat a rider dressed in a tunic and breeches of azure and gold, the colors of the former guard of the House of Gold. The rider stopped the horse before the group of soldiers and civilians and dismounted. As the rider approached everyone was stunned to see that it was the princess herself. She carried a sword and dagger in scabbards around her waist.

"As we march into battle today, we must take a look around us and remember what we are fighting for. We fight neither for fortune nor glory. We fight for our families, our friends, our Goddess..." She drew her sword and raised it in the air. " For Azarajan! We face an army brought forth from the boughs of hell itself but we will not cower in fear for our faith in each other and in the Goddess who guides and protects shall see us through this dark day and lead us to victory...to freedom!"

She waited for the cheers to die down before she spoke again. "Today I fight beside you not as your chosen sultana but as another of the Goddess's children willing to give my life if need be to restore this nation to peace and prosperity!"

Though they feared for her, her parents knew that were they both younger they too would have chosen to fight and die alongside their people in the service of their country.

"For Azarajan! For Sultana Raihana!" Bae called out, raising his own sword.

"For Azarajan! For Sultana Raihana!" a chorus of voices rang out.

They could hear hoofbeats in the distance as the sultan's army approached.

"Mount up!" Jefferson commanded, nodding at Graham.

Riding at the front of the royal army was the sultan himself in black armor, the new colors of the House of Rolando as he now called it followed by the Calvary and four divisions of foot soldiers.

"Kill them all," Rolando sneered.

"Yes, my liege." Felix licked his lips, anticipating the slaughter to come.

As the royal Calvary approached, Bae motioned to Graham and Jefferson. The two men and twelve more riders rode off in opposite directions Bae and Emma urged their own riders forward. Bae leaped at the rider closest to him and tackled him to the ground, his fellow officers following suit, forcing their opponents to fight them on the ground.

"Charge!" Graham and Jefferson yelled out, dismounting their horses and running into the center line from their hiding places behind the trees.

"Bastards! Send in the infantry. Send in the infantry!" Rolando yelled, throwing off his helmet. "And find that bitch I call my sister!"

"Infantry! Forward!" yelled Bo.

"Take your aim!" Robin called out from where he stood with his company of archers, comprised of the "Merry Men" and Snow's civilian division.

"Here they come!" murmured Leroy, his hands gripping the handle of his pick axe tightly.

"NOW!" Snow bellowed. The archers drew back their bowstrings, sending dozens of arrows soaring into the air at the marching soldiers. Suddenly Robin fell forward with an arrow in his arm.

"Where did that come from!" David cried as arrows flew toward them from all directions.

"Spread out! Search everywhere!" Robin panted.

Dressed in the same clothing as their civilian rivals, the sultan's archers were able to conceal themselves in the trees and bushes, making them equally difficult to spot until it was too late, a feat that would not have been so easy to accomplish had they been fighting in the deserts of the south.

Azarajan Border

Rumple and Belle stood on the bluff gazing out across the water through their spyglasses.

"They are breaking through my kadin!" Rumple cried joyfully. "Rolando's flagship is sinking and the others have been set afire!"

"I will ride to meet them when they come ashore," Aladdin spoke up.

"Quickly Aladdin," Belle pleaded. "We have had no news from Shahir and I fear for our daughter!"

Shahir

In the center of the field, Bae, Emma and their fellow officers were tiring and being outnumbered by the royal infantry, more of them marching in to replace those who had fallen. Ruby let out a loud wolf whistle." That's our cue boys!" Leroy cried. He and his brothers marched forward whistling a tune they often did while working in the mines with their friends and neighbors close at their heels, armed with swords and spears.

"Selene our mother, grant us this victory in your name," Regina, Maya, Tinkerbell and Nova chanted as they marched forward to where the princess stood beside Jiminy. She turned to him and took his hand in hers.

"I love you," she whispered.

"You know I love you, my rose." He raised her hand to his lips and kissed it. They drew their swords.

"For Azarajan!" Raihana screamed as they ran into the center of the field.

"For Sultana Raihana!" the dwarves called back.

Rolando dismounted from his horse, strutting toward the center, looking forward to at last finish what he'd begun years ago and put his sister in her grave where she belonged. He could see her in the distance fighting alongside her band of rebels. Several of her troops rushed toward him, he cut through them with a sneer. The vultures would have a grand feast when the day was done and those who were unfortunate to survive he would enjoy having his finest soldiers humiliate in the games.

"Raihana, behind you!" Jiminy called out.

She spun around just as the blade of her opponent's sword sliced through her tunic just above her breast. Her brother raised his sword again and sliced her cheek. "This time there won't be anyone stopping me."

"That's what you think!" Jiminy snarled. "You're not going to touch her again!"

"I'm going to enjoy slicing you to pieces rat." the sultan said confidently, their blades clashing, Jiminy's sword skills little match for the sultan's. He fell to his knees, a deep gash in his leg, just above his knee and another on his upper arm. As Rolando was about to raise his sword to deliver the death blow, his sister's sword blocked it in midair. Fueled by rage both for her chosen consort and herself for all the abuse they and everyone in Azarajan suffered at his hands, she ignored her own pain and attacked. Everyone around them paused and gazed in wonder as brother and sister dueled with a skill that rivaled those of trained soldiers.

"How...how are you...?" Rolando gasped.

"Emma and Bae KNEW you were the one who tried to kill me and prepared me for the day when you would try again, brother! You may have hidden what you were from Papa and Mama but you never hid it from us! You're not going to harm another soul in this country as long as I live and breathe!"

Rolando could see his sister tiring and waited for his opportunity. He knocked the sword out of her hands and pushed her to the ground. "That's where you belong sister! On your back as an Avacour whore."

"I'd rather die first!" she seethed.

The sultan felt something hard strike him on the back of the head and fell to the ground beside her moaning in pain. Jiminy stood behind him, his blue eyes narrowed to slits, a large rock in his hand. He dropped it to the ground and held out his hand for Raihana.

"Are you all right?" he asked softly, helping her to her feet.

"Are you?"

He nodded. She put his good arm around her shoulders and helped him walk out to the center of the field where her troops had surrounded what remained of the sultan's army. Those who hadn't been killed were surrendering when they realized victory was beyond their grasp the moment their leader deserted them. If he was unwilling to fight, why should they?

Bae and Emma approached them, both exhausted. "Rolando's forces are surrendering, my lady sultana. Where is he?"

"He was...where is he?" Jiminy demanded angrily, looking back and seeing that he'd disappeared.

"Search the woods. Rolando has escaped!" Bae commanded. "We'll find him, my lady sultana."

The former sultan emerged from his hiding place in his sister's tent dressed in some of her clothing. It was only a two day ride to the border. He would seek sanctuary there until he could barter passage on a ship to Avacour and assemble a mercenary army to return to Azarajan and reclaim his throne.

"Going somewhere?" he heard a voice ask from behind him. He turned around to see Bae, Emma, Jiminy and Raihana pointing their swords at him.

"I should have killed you years ago!" Rolando hissed at his sister.

"You were too much of a coward then and you are more of one now!" Raihana yelled back. "Always claiming I was the one who hid behind Mama's skirts but look at you now...hiding in MINE! Take him!" she ordered. Graham and Jefferson seized Rolando's arms, chained him and dragged the protesting former sultan away.

"What shall we do with the prisoners my lady sultana?" Bae asked her.

"They will be housed in Arcadia until they can be returned to their families, but they will not be harmed," she said firmly. "Only punish those who need to be...but reasonably. We will not be known for the same brutality as our jailers."

"Yes, my lady sultana."

She glanced over at Snow and David. "Ride back to the sanctuary...and tell Mama and Papa...we are victorious," she murmured.

"Yes, my lady sultana."

"My lady sultana, come with me to the medical tent. Those wounds need tending," Jiminy pleaded, reaching for her hand. She shook her head and drew back.

"There are others who need tending...before me..." She pitched forward and fell into his arms.

"Now is not the time to be stubborn," he said while they limped over to one of the medical tents.

"You will have your own wounds tended to," she demanded.

"My rose..."

"Now who is being the stubborn one?" she countered, sitting down on an empty cot. "Lady Maya...will you please see that Jiminy's wounds are tended to?"

"Yes, my lady sultana. Come along, Jiminy."

"These are deep my lady sultana and will require stitching. I will also give you a paste to prevent scarring," Regina said.

The sultana shook her head vehemently. "No! I will keep them."

"With your permission, I will give you a draught to help you rest."

The sultana lay back and closed her eyes. "I may not need it Regina," she murmured. Moments later she was asleep.

A horrifying sight met the eyes of the former sultan, his kadin and their allies once they reached the fields of Shahir. All around them soldiers were gathering up the bodies of their fallen comrades and carefully placing them on carts to be taken to Arcadia for an honorable burial while others were being transported to the medical tents.

"We are too late! We are too late!" Aladdin growled.

"We cannot assume the worst yet my love," Jasmine said softly.

"Mama! Papa!" Snow called out, turning her horse.

"Snow! Snow!" Belle cried, bringing her own to a stop and dismounting.

"What has happened daughter?" Rumple inquired hesitantly.

"We are victorious, Papa!" David announced. "We have captured the former sultan and defeated his army!"

Rumple dismounted his own horse and took his wife into his arms, sobbing.

"Where is our daughter? Where is Raihana?"

"She has been injured Papa, but Regina is tending to her."

"Take us to her!" Belle demanded.

Bae and Emma met with the former sultan and valide when they reached the medical tent.

"You must be proud of your daughter Papa," Bae declared. "She has truly earned her place among the great rulers of the realms. She fought bravely alongside us and she and Jiminy defeated Rolando themselves."

"Are they all right?" Belle asked worriedly.

"They were both wounded and required some stitching but are resting comfortably now."

"And Rolando?"

"He is at this moment en route to the Dark Castle and we have sent some of our forces ahead to capture Drizella," Emma informed. "What are your orders?"

"Rolando and Drizella's fates are in the hands of your sultana now," Rumple reminded her.

The former sultan and valide approached the bed where their daughter lay sleeping, her face and chest bandaged. She opened her eyes slowly. "Mama? Papa?"

Rumple reached out and caressed his daughter's bandaged cheek. "You have earned your place among the greatest rulers of the realms today, my daughter."

"What I've done was not for glory...it was for my people...for Azarajan...as you and Mama have taught me all my life...their needs must always come before my own. Jiminy...where is Jiminy?"

Belle gestured to the cot beside her. "He is resting, darling. He is a brave young man."

"I love him, Mama."

The valide smiled. "I know poppet and he has proven that he would fight to the death out of love for you."

"Those we have lost, will you see to it that they are given burials with honors, Papa?"

"I will do so dearie." Rumple leaned down and kissed her forehead.

She closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep again.


	6. Revelations and Retribution

The former sultana was seated on her throne when Raihana's troops arrived at the palace the following morning, Bae and Emma stunned to see the bruises on Drizella's face and arms. She'd received quite a beating, but it hadn't been from any of them.

"Drizella of Avacour, I arrest you in the name of Sultana Raihana!" Emma announced. Drizella rose from the throne slowly and held out her arms as Snow produced a set of chains and bound her wrists and ankles. Everyone was puzzled by her easy acceptance of her defeat while they were enroute to the Dark Castle. When she saw her husband being brought in also chained she threw back her head and laughed at his attire.

"You should've BEEN a woman, you pathetic fool!" she taunted. "Had I been the one at the head of our army we would have victory instead of this!"

"Oh, but I showed you how much of man I was a few days ago, didn't I?" he sneered. "Let me give you some advice dear brother-in-law to be. Here is what you do to a woman to show her where her true place is." He began to whisper obscenities in Jiminy's ear, the future Prince Consort's face reddening with rage.

"Get them out of our sight!" he growled.

Bae grabbed Rolando's arms and dragged him down the path to the Dark Castle as Raihana's caravan was being brought to the front gates. Robin and his friends scooped up some mud and lobbed it at the former sultan while others scooped up waste from the horses and threw it. They relished taunting the man who had been their tormentor for so many mothers while his parents looked on with sorrow and regret.

Rolando was shoved into his cell in the Dark Castle, the door locked behind him. Drizella was taken to a cell down the hall and once the door was locked behind her, she pushed aside one of the loose stones in her cell and smiled to find one of the daggers she'd planted was still there. There were daggers planted behind the walls of every cell, unknown to everyone but her and when the moment was right she would take one of those daggers and take her revenge.

"We have done a great disservice to our people. I have done a great disservice to our people," Rumple bemoaned. "You should have been my heir."

"I will heal the wounds, Papa. We will heal the wounds together. Stop!" Raihana ordered and stepped out of the caravan.

"My lady sultana?"

"The wall must come down!" she said fiercely and snatched the pickaxe out of Leroy's hands and swung it against the concrete. Soon others joined her, hammering away at the wall with anything they could find, unleashing months of frustration and grief onto the structure until they'd broken through in dozens of places. They worked well into the night before they were overcome by exhaustion and retired to the palace. They rose early the following morning and continued working until the north section of the wall was destroyed while Rumple went to the Dark Castle. There were questions he longed for answers to, hoping his son would at last provide them.

"I wish to speak with my son," he informed the two guards waiting outside Rolando's cell. They nodded briefly, and one unlocked the cell and escorted the former sultan inside, waiting by the door ready to act if his son had any violent intentions and everyone now knew Rolando was capable of them. It had been two days since he'd had a drop of wine or a taste of the opiates and it was only a matter of time before the rages began.

"Have you come to gloat, Papa?"

"Why? Why?!" Rumple demanded, tears streaming down his cheeks. "I did not raise you to be this. Tell me why!"

The prince smirked. "Look at you. A weak, sniveling fool. THAT is why, Papa! You could've been the greatest ruler in all the realms and you were, until SHE came along. She is what weakened you, made you less of man."

"She is your mother, the woman that gave you life, dearie!" Rumple hissed. "I will not have you speak of her with such disrespect!"

"I will," he said defiantly. "You let her rule through you. Do not even bother to deny it. I saw it myself firsthand. You were making this into a Sultanate of Women." He snorted. "A Sultanate of women first with that bitch the valide and later with the bitch that gave birth to me. There are only two places a woman belongs…on her back or on her knees."

"Of all the vile, disgusting…."

"They hid it well, but I knew Mother and the Valide intended for Raihana to rule." He smiled evilly. "I was the monster who stole her breath away Papa…and I would have succeeded were it not for Emma and Baelfire. The Valide prided herself on being clever with her potions, poisons and schemes but I was the clever one. Watching her suffer brought me the greatest satisfaction. And poor little Maurice, the goddess had intended for him to recover from the plague, but I would not allow that. No one would stand ion my path to becoming sultan." Rumple backed away from him gasping for air, his hand clutching his chest. "And now YOU can die."

The guard sprung into action, catching the former sultan before he fell to the floor. "We must take him to the lady Regina, immediately!" he bellowed.

Rolando laughed from his cot. "As I said….weak!"

"That will be enough out of you!" Bae roared when he walked into the cell and punched the prisoner in the face, alerted to the disturbance in the cell by another of the guards. "Phillip, inform the sultana and valide my father has had an attack. GO!"

Bae and Robin carried Rumple out of the Dark Castle and into his quarters where Regina began tending to him, horrified when Robin informed her of what had transpired in the cell prior to his attack, confirming her suspicions regarding her mentor's death. That the prince had been responsible for his own brother's murder was equally horrifying. The boy was a monster.

"His heart has been given a terrible shock," she declared. "Has the valide been informed?"

"She is being informed as we speak." Robin said.

"And the sultana?"

"She too will be informed. Regina, the sultana cannot spare his life after this! He is a monster as we've known all along."

"It is not our decision to make Robin."

"Then we must pray to the goddess she makes the right one!"

Raihana, her mother and Jiminy were in her sitting room having tea when a breathless Phillip walked into the room with Mulan at his heels. "My lady valide I regret to inform you that his lordship has had an attack and you are to go to the lady Regina's quarters immediately.

"Oh no! Rumple!" Belle cried, clutching her belly. "Take me to him!"

"We will come with you Mama."

Belle was already out the door before she could say anything further.

"My lady sultana, I mist speak with you first," Mulan insisted.

"It cannot wait?" she demanded angrily.

"I'm afraid it cannot. My lady sultana, his lordship was in Rolando's cell when this attack occurred."

"My brother is responsible? How?"

She sighed. "His lordship was questioning Rolando when he began to say some of the most awful things…about him, about you…about your mother."

She went on to inform her mistress of everything she'd overheard in the cell. Jiminy reached for Raihana's hand and held it tightly.

"He….he…he killed Grandmama….he…he killed Maurice…as…as I've feared!" she gasped. Jiminy grabbed her potion out of her satchel and handed it to her. She took several sips before she returned to her chair. "I should've told them! All those years ago, I should've told them!"

"They wouldn't have believed you, my rose. Rolando hid his true nature well. It was only when he became sultan that he allowed it to show. Raihana, I'm afraid we cannot show him any mercy now. He has admitted to assassinating two members of the royal household and we cannot forget the misery and torment he inflicted on all of us during his brief reign. He must be executed along with Drizella because she is no innocent in all this."

"I must see him," she said hoarsely. "I must see my father."

Her father was resting from one of the restorative potions Regina had given him when she walked into his chambers. Belle sat beside him, telling him one of her stories as she did every night since they were married, carding her fingers through his silvery hair.

"I don't understand, how could this happen? Has anyone told you?"

"Mama, we can discuss this later."

Belle leaned over and kissed his cheek. "We will discuss it now. Come!" she ordered, leaving no room for argument. She led her daughter and Jiminy down the hall to the library and closed the door behind them. "Now you will tell me why your father is in this condition. I assume you've spoken to everyone."

Raihana exhaled sharply. "He was in the Dark Castle talking to Rolando and Mulan was in the cell with him and heard it all. Oh Mama….the terrible things he said…they were what brought on Papa's attack!"

"What did he say?"

"Tell her Raihana," Jiminy coached.

"Mama, you should sit down. The baby…"

"I will stand now OUT WITH IT!"

Raihana found it difficult to stand herself as she relayed everything that had transpired in the cell. Once she was finished Belle sank into her chair and burst into tears.

"We raised a monster," she wept. "Oh Raihana, why did you not speak up sooner?"

"Would you have believed her if she did, my lady valide?" Jiminy inquired gently.

"I'm afraid not though I had my suspicions that our son had a cruel streak in him that I thought only manifested itself once he became enthralled with Drizella. My poor Maurice….Tatiana…." She looked up, her blue eyes blazing with rage. "There can only be one punishment. He must be executed according to the law."

"Mama…he…he's your son."

"I have no son. My sons died the day one murdered the other," Belle said coldly. "You are sultana now and the final decision is yours, but I want justice for my Maurice. Your father will agree with me once he is better. A sultanate of women." She laughed harshly. "How right you were Rolando but not in the way you think. Your father respected my opinions and many times took my advice when I offered it, but I never ruled through him. We ruled this land together as equals, as all women and men should be equals. Now I want to go to my husband."

While the valide and sultana kept vigil at Rumple's bedside a large crowd had gathered in the courtyard, all holding candles and praying to the goddess for his quick recovery. The circumstances surrounding the future royal Vizier's sudden attack were kept secret, yet many believed the former sultan Rolando was somehow responsible. In his cell, Rolando waited impatiently for news that his weak father would soon join Maurice and the late valide in the afterlife. He also wanted his mother to lose the brat she carried in her grief and her own life soon after, but the goddess would not grant his wishes. Three days later the guards could only laugh as he unleashed his anger and frustration on the walls of his cell at the news that the former sultan would make a full recovery.

"You must make a decision regarding Rolando and Drizella's fates now dearie," Rumple advised his daughter from his bed that evening.

"He is your son."

"He lost the right to be my son when he murdered your brother, my mother and tried to murder you. The assassination of a member of the royal household is punishable by death. That is the law set forth by Sultan Omar in the first year of his reign and you are now the sultana."

"I have not been formally crowed."

"You won the crown by conquest as I did all those years ago. Your word is law whether you've had a coronation or not. Think it over for a day or two if you must but you cannot wait much longer. You must place the needs of your people above your own and he Drizella remain a constant threat."

"Thank you, Papa."

"Ordering a death is not an easy decision to make, poppet yet if it is what is needed to ensure the stability of the realm, it must be done. No matter whom it may be."

She nodded and kissed his cheek. "I will see you again soon Papa."

She spent the next two days in seclusion, seeing noone but the servants that brought her meals and books from the grand library. On the third day an announcement was made the sultana was ready to pass judgement on her brother and his wife. A crowd gathered in the throne room as the prisoners were brought before the sultana in chains.

"You will kneel before the sultana!" Emma commanded.

"I will not go on my knees for any woman!" Rolando hissed. Bae pushed down on the younger man's shoulder, forcing him to his knees. Drizella was smiling as she kneeled. Raihana stood up and glared down at the couple.

"Drizella of Avacour, for your crimes against the people of Azarajan and the attempted assassination of the previous sultan Rumplestiltskin and the sultana Belle, I impose the sentence of death. You will be taken to the city square tomorrow morning and when the shadow of the sundial casts upon the tenth hour you will face the executioner's axe. May the goddess have mercy on your soul!"

"You should be dead by my hand and no other!" Drizella snarled at her spouse.

"Ah but I'm not, am I dearest?" he sneered.

"Go to the Underworld and rot."

"You first!"

"Enough!" Raihana commanded. "Rolando of Azarajan, for your crimes against the people of Azarajan, the assassinations of the Valide Tatiana and Prince Maurice, and the attempted assassinations of your parents and your sister, I impose the sentence of death. You will be taken to the city of square tomorrow morning and when the shadow of the sundial casts upon the ninth hour you will face the executioner's axe. May the goddess have mercy on your soul. Take them away!"

"You won't do it!"

"Yes, I will! Remove them!"

"Being on your knees suits you Drizella," Rolando taunted his furious wife.

"I could kill you!" she snarled and lunged at him. Emma grabbed her and pulled her back as she was about to reach out with her chained hands and attempt to strangle him. She was still screaming at him when they took them back to their cells and locked them in. Once she was certain her guard was asleep she pulled the loose stone from the wall and took out the dagger. Very soon the servant would arrive with her meal and then she would make her move. She knew she ran the risk of being killed before she had her revenge against the man she no longer wanted to call a husband. She concealed her dagger beneath her pillow when she heard the key turn in the lock and the servant wheeled her cart in with a bowl of porridge, bread and water, the only meal she and her fellow prisoners were given with one of the night guards beside her. Drizella yanked her dagger out from under her pillow and threw it at the guard, striking him in the chest. The servant began to scream until she tackled her to the floor and smashed the porridge bowl over her head. She pulled the dagger out of the guard's chest and grabbed the cell keys from the belt around his waist. As she opened the door Mulan knocked the dagger out of her hands and she and Phillip dragged her back inside the cell, changing her to the wall.

"A loose brick!" Phillip exclaimed. "We must search the other cells. NOW!"

It took them half the night to search all the cells and when they were finished they'd recovered twenty daggers from cells in the west wing where Drizella and Rolando were imprisoned, his cell being the only one that didn't have one. Rolando was furious that his only opportunity for escape had been thwarted by his treacherous wife.

"How did this happen?" Raihana demanded angrily when she was informed of the escape attempt early the following morning.

"We questioned Drizella after we completed our search. She had these daggers hidden in the west wing because she wasn't certain which cell she would be imprisoned in. Her attempt was not to escape but to kill Rolando herself," Bae explained.

"Yet we could have had an escape attempt. You're certain all the weapons have been found?"

"We are."

"Then no one else must know of this. Have those holes sealed up immediately and the prisoners prepared for execution."

"Yes, my lady sultana."

"You made a wise decision dearie," her father said softly.

"They searched those cells before. How could they miss something like that?"

"They will not miss it again, I can assure you. You should rest a while longer."

"I cannot, Papa. This realm will not be secure until Rolando and Drizella are gone. Had he gotten one of those daggers…"

"I know poppet. I was not expecting you to have your first crisis so early in your reign, but you are acting swiftly and justly."

She nodded and went out into the gardens, her eyes filled with tears when she thought of the brother she'd tried so hard to love who would die on the block a traitor to his country in just a few hours. She had no tears to shed for Drizella. It would be so easy to lay the blame for her brother's decline at Drizella's feet as others were so quick to do but they hadn't lived with the horror that was Raihana's in the years since that first murder attempt. Hers was not the only voice crying out for justice, On the wind she could hear the voices of her brother, grandmother and those who gave their lives to put her on the throne at Shahir.

"I thought I'd find you here, my rose," Jiminy said softly, placing his hand on her shoulder. Raihana laid her cheek against his hand and kissed his fingers. "I know this wasn't an easy decision for you to make but you're doing it for your people."

"For our people," she corrected and glanced up at the sundial. "It's almost time."

Her parents would not be attending the execution. It had been painful enough knowing the atrocities their son committed but she would not allow them to endure having to watch him die for them. The bells in the Dark Castle tower chimed the hour and a crowd began to gather in the square while she and Jiminy took their positions at the front of the crowd in their black cloaks, Moments later Bae and Jefferson brought a protesting Rolando onto the scaffold while Emma and Mulan escorted a surprisingly calm Drizella.

"For the goddess's sake at least die with SOME dignity, you miserable wretch!" Drizella hissed at her husband.

"I don't want to die, I don't want to die…" he wept, the front of his shift stained with urine and the pungent smell of feces lingered in the air.

"Just kill him already and put the rest of us out of our misery for having to listen to him!"

"Be quiet!" Emma ordered her prisoner.

"Kneel and stretch out your arms," the executioner ordered.

"No…no please…Raihana…I don't want to die."

"Kneel and stretch out your arms!"

"No…" he sobbed.

Bae nodded to Robin and Jefferson. They forced him to his knees before the block and tied a blindfold around his eyes. Rolando was still sobbing when they stepped back and the executioner crept up behind him, a sword in his hand. The life of the boy that once showed so much promise was brought to a quick and quiet end with one swift blow. Raihana turned away and buried her face in Jiminy's shoulder, weeping softly while his body was being removed and the scaffold cleaned in preparation for Drizella's execution.

"It's time," Mulan said. Drizella waved her arm away and to the surprise of everyone she kneeled before the block and laid her head down, stretching her arms out. Moments later the axe fell and the final threat to the realm was nothing more than a memory and the silence was broken by cannonfire, the prearranged signal to the couple standing on the balcony of the palace.

"She did what she had to do. For the people. For Azarajan," Rumple whispered while he held his sobbing wife in his arms. The dark days were over and now it was time to begin anew but for now they could only mourn what might have been.


	7. A New Golden Age

Three days after Drizella's execution, preparations began for the new sultana's coronation. It was just a formality. She was already recognized as the ruler of the nation by her people and many of their allies. She would take the crown and be wed to her chosen consort on her twenty-first natal day and two weeks after the battle of Shahir, the last portion of the wall surrounding Arcadia came down. The stone was gathered up and taken to workshops throughout the realm to be converted into memorials for those who lost their lives fighting for freedom. Destruction of the old palace was also underway forcing the court to move to the summer palace at Serenity. Raihana allowed the valide to plan every aspect of her coronation and wedding herself much to the valide's delight. Her own ceremony had been a rushed affair and she still felt the sting of her son's criticisms of his own wedding and coronation ceremony.

Rumple spent many days in the council chambers educating his daughter's chosen consort of his new role in the palace, emphasizing that though his daughter was the sultana, he did have the freedom to voice his own opinions on affairs of state.

"She may not agree with you, but it is better that issues be examined from both sides. I did enjoy the times Belle and I would have our debates. There were many times when she had to stay my hand when I behaved irrationally…the best example an incident that occurred shortly after we were wed. Thomas and Ashley had been flaunting my decency laws and I was more than eager to lock them both in the tower until she reminded me that I was taking my frustration out on them. And you Jiminy, come from the people. You know the challenges they face daily and can be their voice when they lack the courage to speak for themselves."

"I will try my lord."

"I know you will. Now then, there is another issue we must discuss; your wedding night. And I want an honest answer. Will you go to my daughter's bed as chaste as she?"

"I will. I did not flaunt your decency laws."

"Though I do believe you, were you a woman I would have you examined as additional proof. My mother, though I was cross at her at the time for doing so was wise to have my Belle examined. My first two kadins used whore tricks to convince me of their innocence but still when Belle and I did consummate our marriage it was a learning experience for both of us."

The future consort blushed. "I will try to be a good husband to her in all ways, my lord."

Rumple smiled.

Two months before the coronation the women were sitting in a circle around the future sultana, all of them bearing gifts for the bride. The valide handed her daughter hers first, a small gold box with a red silk ribbon tied around it. "I have been waiting for this day since you were born my precious," Belle said softly. Raihana carefully untied the ribbon and peered inside the box to find a copy of The Garden of Delights.

"Mama…"

"Every bride must have one, darling and this is a new edition your father and I had made after your birth." Belle opened the book to a chapter she and Rumple had printed into the book a year after the twins were born, texts they'd written themselves accompanied by the same beautiful illustrations depicting intimacy that made the book one of the most sought after volumes in the seven kingdoms. "We read it together before we made love for the first time as a way to prepare us for that night. I believe it will help you and Jiminy if you do the same."

The sultana looked away nervously. "What if I cannot please him? What kind of sultana will I be if I cannot even please my husband in the bedchamber?"

"I do not think that will be an issue darling," Belle reassured her. "Your future consort loves you deeply. You have all of your lives to learn what pleases you. Remember always Raihana, a successful marriage must have three things: intimacy, honesty and respect. They…oh!" The valide clutched her belly.

"Mama, what is it?" the sultana cried, jumping to her feet.

"Regina, it is time," the valide gasped.

The sorceress smirked. "Have you been in labor all morning again, my lady valide?"

"Old…oh….habits…oh….never die hard…"

Emma chuckled. "His lordship will be cross with you, you know that my lady valide."

"He will…get…over…it…once he sees our child." Belle draped her arm over Regina's shoulders. "I…Inform his lordship our child is coming."

Emma's laugher echoed down the hallway. She found the former sultan in the council room continuing the future Prince Consort's lessons in preparation for his own coronation. "My lord, the lady valide sent me to inform you that her labors have begun."

Rumple shook his head. "And am I to assume that her labors began this morning and she did not tell me…again! Damned stubborn woman. Come along Jiminy and stop that laughing Baelfire!"

"You should be used to this by now Papa."

"Indeed I should but the first time I was not," he muttered.

In the final days of the sultana's pregnancy the sultan and the valide had insisted Belle restrict her appearances at receiving to two hours only but that day she insisted on staying longer when she saw the long lines of people wanting an audience with her husband. They were not always to settle disputes; some came to receive the royal couple's blessing as they made their journey into the afterlife or to brighten their spirits during troubled times. They saw as many as they could in a day, making certain that those with the greatest need be received first, others were asked to return the following day.

She had been having pains in her lower back and abdomen all morning but saw no cause for concern recalling that the valide had been in labor for nearly a day with Rumple. She sat quietly on her throne listening while her husband spoke to a group of men that had been arrested at the local tavern for brawling.

"The three of you have become a menace to this city with your antics. I will not condone a man having a drink, but I DO NOT approve of one drinking until he is no longer in control of his faculties. Not only have you reacted with violence in public when you've overindulged in the ale, I am also receiving reports that there have been incidents of violence in your homes, against your wives and children." The sultan rose from his throne, his eyes narrowed to slits. "I will not have abuse of women and children in my realm, dearies! Being under the influence of ale does not excuse your actions. Since you seem to enjoy disregarding my law against violence in the home, I will be pleased to give you a reminder. You will spend nine months in the Dark Castle, there will be no ale served to you and you will learn to supplement your cravings for the drink with something more substantial. You will not be released until you are deemed fit to reenter society. Any backsliding once you are released will earn you a longer prison sentence. Take them away."

Belle rose from her throne feeling sharp pains in her belly. "My lord…my lady valide…I…I believe it is time!" she gasped.

The valide chuckled. "Indeed it is and I suspect it has been time all morning, has it not?"

"Dearie! Your labors started and you did not tell me?" the sultan cried. "Why are you not lying down in our bedchamber?"

"B…Because babies….do not come….as quickly as…you…men think!"

"Come my dear. We will walk a bit. It will help you when it is time," the valide said softly, taking Belle's arm.

"Mother, she should retire! Immediately."

"Have you given birth?" the valide demanded.

"No!"

"Then be silent! This is womens' work. Come along dear."

The valide walked her young charge down the hall to the royal bedchamber, her nervous husband at their heels. "Rumple, go wait with the men! I'll not have you fluttering about and distressing your kadin!"

"Mother!"

"Must I call for the guards?"

"Do not attempt to invoke a regency on me Mother or you'll find yourself in seclusion again!"

The sultana leaned against the wall and glanced down at the puddle between her legs. "My lady valide…..I…I have had an accident…"

The valide frowned. "Your time is closer than we thought. Your waters have broken. Rumple! Make yourself useful and help me take the sultana to the bedchamber!"

"Your tongue is sharper than a sword," he muttered, taking Belle by the arm and leading her down the hall. "Do you wish me to carry you my kadin?"

"No, let me walk. It will help me."

In her bedchamber, the sultana's attendants changed her into a simple cotton shift and helped her into bed, all of them shocked to see a man in the room when they were not permitted to be. Tatiana turned to her son and pointed to the door. "Out."

"Mother!"

"My lady valide, can't he stay?" Belle asked sadly.

"If he faints I do not want to hear any complaints," the valide grumbled. "Most of them do."

The sands in the hourglass fell slowly while the sultana labored, her husband's chest tightening in agony with every cry of pain, vowing that she would never again endure such torment. Just before midnight, the sultana gave birth to their son, followed a few minutes later by their daughter. The sultan was in tears holding his heirs in his arms, unable to believe that a woman as beautiful as the one who lay exhausted in the bed beside him had chosen to love him and give him such a precious gift.

"….Push, my lady valide, push!" Regina encouraged.

"Oooohhhh this child is a stubborn one…much like it's papa!" Belle grunted.

"Don't you mean like it's mama, dearie?" Rumple teased.

"No, you are worse than….ooooo….!"

"You will need to push one more time my lady valide!"

The valide grasped her husband's hand and pushed with the last ounce of her strength. A beautiful baby with a small patch of chestnut hair lay in Regina's arms, protesting furiously at being taken from the comfort of the womb into an unknown land full of strangers. "You have a daughter my lady! A daughter!"

"May I see her," the valide asked weakly.

"Let us tend to her first my lady," Maya said softly. "Then we must tend to you."

The valide nodded. "Rumple, you may want to turn your back."

"I will sit with Aminah until you are finished," he murmured.

Once the handmaidens cleaned the child, Maya handed the baby to her father while Regina assisted Belle in delivering the afterbirth. Rumple sat in a chair by the balcony cradling his newborn daughter in his arms singing her the same Azarajan lullabies that once lured him and her siblings into sleep years ago.

"My Aminah, my precious gift from the goddess for our winter years."

"Rumple, may I see her now?"

The former sultan carried his precious bundle over to her exhausted mother and carefully placed her in her arms. "The newest of many of the gifts you have given me, my kadin," he murmured and kissed her.

"Emma, inform the sultana and her chosen consort the Princess Aminah has been born," Belle murmured. She nodded and scurried off, finding the sultana and her consort in the library practicing speaking to each other in several languages.

"My lady sultana, my lord; the valide has given birth to beautiful and healthy daughter named Princess Aminah!" she announced.

"I have a sister? Oh Emma, that is wonderful news! We will see her now if Mama is not too tired!" the sultana cried excitedly. The sultana fought back tears when she entered the valide's bedchamber and saw her tiny sister nestled in her mother's arms. The baby looked up her and for a moment the sultana could have sworn to the goddess that the Princess Aminah smiled at her. She held out her own arms for the baby and the valide placed her in them.

"Hello," Raihana whispered softly. "I'm your sister Raihana…."

"She is a beautiful child my lord, my lady valide," the future consort murmured.

"We are hoping we will be welcoming our first grandchild very soon," the valide said boldly.

"We must be crowned and wed first, Mama!" Raihana giggled.

"The sooner the better dearie," Rumple laughed.

"Henry, Grace, make the announcement to the people that Princess Aminah has been born," the prince consort instructed.

A large crowd gathered outside the palace, eagerly awaiting the appearance of the royal family. While the valide rested, the sultana, her chosen consort and the former sultan stepped out onto the balcony to be greeted by thunderous applause. The sultana stepped forward to address the crowd.

"Good evening! The Goddess has blessed us with a new member of our family." She turned to her father. "Come forward Father and introduce my sister to our people." Rumple moved forward with his infant daughter in his arms.

"People of Azarajan, I give you the Princess Aminah!" he announced. The crowd cheered loudly.

"Long live the Princess Aminah!" they chanted.

Rumple smiled thinking back to the night he presented the lovely young woman standing by his side to the people.

"People of Azarajan, I give you Princess Raihana!"

"Long live Princess Raihana!"

He'd never imagined that it would be the tiny baby girl he held in his arms that would be the one who would rescue their people from the grasp of tyranny and lead them into a new golden age.

"…We are also pleased to inform you that the lady valide is well and will make her first public appearance at the wedding of our sultana to her chosen consort," Rumple added. "We bid you all good night and will see you again very soon!"

The new Sultana and her consort stepped out of their caravan a week alter dressed in their golden ceremonial robes amidst thunderous applause from the crowd. Jiminy was nervous as they walked to the platform where the thrones sat, Rumplestiltskin and Belle awaiting them holding the crowns of their offices in their hands. Servants were standing off to the sides with fans for the Sultana, knowing the humidity would make breathing difficult for her. They turned to face the crowd and knelt before the valide and the former sultan, their heads bowed as a sign of respect to their predecessors.

"People of Azarajan, today is a day of celebration as I pass the duties of this office to the heir that has proven that she and her chosen consort can lead this nation into another glorious age. "Princess Raihana, Prince Jiminy, please rise. By my will and the will of the goddess, I Sultan Rumplestiltskin do crown you Raihana, the First Sultana of Azarajan!" Rumple announced and placed the altered Sultan's crown on his daughter's head. "Long may you reign!"

The crowds cheered enthusiastically for their newly appointed leaders, believing with all their hearts that Raihana and Jiminy would indeed take the realm into a second golden age as Rumple and Belle had before them.

The former sultan and the valide stepped back to allow the new Sultana and chosen Prince Consort to address the people.

"We would not be standing here today were it not for the men and women who fought bravely for the peace and stability this nation at Shahir and today we must first honor those whom the Goddess has welcomed into her temple," Raihana began softly. "Let us have five minutes of silence and pray to the Goddess who watches over all of us for their souls in Paradise."

The Sultana closed her eyes and bowed her head, her consort and all the court following suit, all of them remembering those they lost at Shahir and in the months leading up to their final victory. Rumple stood behind her, beaming with pride. Like her mother and her grandmother before her, Raihana was proving to be a formidable woman and she would be a formidable sultana, taking her rightful place among the greatest of the seven kingdoms' rulers.

It was the chosen consort's turn to speak. "Now we must honor those men and women who are still with us today, for your bravery and your courage to continue to fight on the field and off even in the darkest moments. Would the officers and soldiers of the resistance army step forward please?"

The former members of Sultan Rumplestiltskin's guard dressed in the uniforms they'd worn in battle restored by loving hands moved forward with Bae and Emma leading them, white ribbons pinned to their chests to represent their fallen brothers and sisters.

Following them were the members of the civilian resistance army dressed in the same clothes they'd worn during the battle with Robin and David leading them, green ribbons pinned to their chests to represent their fallen friends, neighbors and family members.

The royal couple, to the amazement of all knelt, on the platform, their heads bowed respectfully. Many in the audience, including the members of the resistance army were moved to tears by their kindness. From their positions on the platform, the former sultan and valide wept openly with pride in their heir and their people. Moments later they rose to their feet.

"Members of the royal guard who once served and protected my father, his consort and his heirs, I ask you now: will you serve and protect your sultana, my chosen consort and our heirs?" Raihana inquired.

Bae and Emma ascended the steps of the platform until they were several steps below the sultana and her consort, drew their swords and knelt, motioning for their forces to do the same. "We the members of the royal guard, will serve and protect our Sultana Raihana, your chosen Prince Consort Jiminy and your heirs, may you reign for as many years as it pleases the Goddess," they recited in unison.

"You may rise."

The royal guard moved aside to make way for the members of the civilian forces to be recognized.

"Members of the civilian guard, your service to this throne and this nation must also be recognized and honored," Raihana said. "All of you, even without the benefit of years of military training dedicated yourselves and your families to the cause of restoring this nation to peace and prosperity and for this we cannot express our gratitude enough but we hope this will be a start...all of your lands and monies that were seized during the previous sultan's reign will be returned to you...doubled."

"My…my lady sultana...we...we cannot express our gratitude enough!" Robin exclaimed as he and David knelt on the steps before the royal couple. "May the Goddess bless you and your chosen Consort with a long and prosperous reign with many heirs!"

"You may rise."

Now the royal couple faced their predecessors and knelt "Today we honor you, my father and mother," Raihana said softly. "For you gave me life and taught me what it means to be a true ruler...to put the needs of my land and my people before my own. You inspired in me the desire to be the woman I never dreamed I could be and today I ask you again: will you serve your sultana and her consort as our Grand Vizier and Valide?"

"We will my daughter," her father said. "And we look forward to a new golden age with you and your heirs...our grandchildren."

Raihana rose to her feet, smiling at her mother as she took the pillow holding the consort's crown in her hands and walked over to her still kneeling husband. "And today we must also honor you Jiminy, for your courage and your bravery on the battlefield of Shahir and at the risk of your own life, protecting your sultana and preserving the succession. So, I ask you again: will you rule Azarajan at my side, sire my heirs and love me not just as your sultana, but as your wife?"

Jiminy rose to his feet, his eyes meeting hers. "I will," he said firmly.

Tears were in the sultana's eyes as she raised his crown above his head. "By my will and by the will of the Goddess I Sultana Raihana do crown you Jiminy, Prince Consort of Azarajan!"

Her consort took her into his arms, kissing her passionately. The crowd cheered with delight but neither of them could hear it, focused only on each other for the moment.

"Our rose will not have her thorns much longer, my kadin," Rumple giggled. Belle scowled at him.

"Rumple!"

"I am merely stating a fact, my kadin."

"Well perhaps she will keep a few to remind her husband she is not a fragile flower. You have always preferred your rose with a few thorns, have you not?"

He chuckled and kissed her. "I certainly have, my kadin."

"Shall I be a thorny rose in our bedchamber tonight?"

"If you wish, my kadin."

The sultana frowned at her parents, a twinkle in her eye. "Can you not wait until you are in your bedchamber for that?"

The consort gasped. "Raihana!"

She giggled. "You will pluck the thorns of your rose in our bedchamber this evening, husband."

He blushed.

"It will not be as it was with Rolando my kadin. You know well our daughter has always appreciated all we have done for her," Rumple whispered to his nervous wife during the royal reception in the palace ballroom, carefully planned by the valide herself. She watched her daughter and consort circulate among the guests of all classes, treating each as an equal, never rushing them along though there were so many eager to see them. Moments later Raihana and Jiminy approached her parents.

"You've done a wonderful job Mama," Raihana praised. "I would like to hold story time for the children before we retire for the evening. Will you join me?"

"Of course, I will sweetheart."

"I will sit in the audience with Aminah," the vizier said softly.

"Would all of the children join us in the library please?" the valide announced.

"Are we gonna have storytime again?" a little girl asked excitedly.

"Yes dear child, we are."

As they had in the camps, Jiminy, Gepetto and Pinocchio brought out their puppets while the valide and the sultana spoke the parts of the characters in the stories. Several of them were newly written by the valide and in a few months would be collected in a volume to be distributed in every household in the realm. The sultana was determined to complete her parents' most ambitious project; education and literacy for all. Some of the older citizens of the realm resisted their efforts at first but soon realized that being educated provided them with opportunities they never had before. A renaissance had begun in Azarajan. The new palace would also showcase tapestries, statuary and portraits that had been presented to the royal family as gifts from up and coming artists. The vizier would take several hours out of his day three times a week to teach spinning and weaving classes, the valide teaching reading and writing. Regina and Victor would conduct healing, science and mathematics courses and Henry had been appointed the palace historian.

"Come darling, we must get you ready for bed," Belle said softly, leading her daughter down the hall to her bedchamber while her consort was speaking to Rumple in private.

The sultana stood beside the bed in a sheer azure blue nightrail, her copy of The Garden of Delights clutched tightly in her hands.

"Mama….will it hurt?"

"It will darling at first. It is unavoidable, but the discomfort will lessen in time. Do not dwell on it. Think only of how much you love your husband and the journey to Paradise will not be as difficult. Perhaps if you spent some time reading the Garden first it will relax you." Belle kissed her cheek affectionately. "I will see you in the morning."

"Mama, there is something I must tell you."

"What is it darling?"

"Jiminy and I….we almost made love one morning while I was still recovering from my additions," she confessed nervously.

"Ah I see."

"You don't sound surprised, Mama."

"Because I'm not darling. Your papa and I almost made love that night we were trapped in the cave. Once your body's consumed by passion's flames, it's not so easy to put them out. But tonight, you no longer need to. Fan them into an inferno, darling!" Belle kissed her cheek. "Good night darling. I will see you in the morning when the sheets are presented."

Raihana took a deep breath and climbed into bed holding the book in her lap while she read through several chapters. The moment she heard the door to their bedchamber close, she shoved her copy of The Garden of Delights under her pillow and drew the blankets up to her chin. Jiminy chuckled softly.

"That will make resting your head a bit more difficult. Might I suggest returning it to your trunk?"

She blushed. "When did you sneak in without my noticing you?"

"You are, like the valide, unable to notice anything when you're engrossed in a book." He crossed over to the bed and reached under the pillow and pulled the book out, setting it on the table. "There. Now that should be more comfortable." He sat down on the bed and caressed her scarred cheek tenderly. "I want tonight to be as comfortable for you as possible, my rose."

"I do not see how it can be when you must inflict pain upon me."

"Had the Goddess willed it there would be no pain but I will be as gentle with you as I can be. " He cupped her face in his hands and kissed her softly.

"Do you know what to do?" she inquired delicately. "Of course, you do. Men are not always chaste before marriage despite my father's decency laws…" she added with a touch of bitterness. "And that morning in your wagon…"

"My rose, I told you that I would take a woman to my bed only if she came willingly and after we were wed in the Goddess's holy temple. I was only tempted to break that vow once. With you. I respected your father's decency laws."

"But surely you've read the Garden of Delights and seen animals…"

His face was crimson. "My parents didn't have a copy of The Garden of Delights…I…have heard what it contains….and I always had to look away if I saw animals mating."

"Then tonight will be a learning experience for both of us. My parents prepared themselves for this night by reading The Garden of Delights together, but they did not consummate it the night they were wed since they did not yet love each other."

"I am told the valide Tatiana had given him something that made it difficult for him to…."

"That is true. She was determined his first two wives not bear his heirs, so she gave them potions to render their wombs barren and another to my father to affect his virility. We have one advantage my parents did not on their wedding night. We love each other." She picked up the book and opened it, flipping through the pages until she came to the chapter her parents had written. He drew her into his arms and set the book on a pillow while they read together.

"Jiminy?" she asked him a short time later.

"Yes, my rose."

"I…I think I am ready now," she confessed bravely.

"Are you certain Raihana? Once the deed is done….I cannot take it back."

She took the book from him and set it on the nightstand. "Make me a proper wife," she whispered and lay back on the bed, holding her arms out to him. He could feel her trembling, thinking that they should wait but she held him closer, wanting to complete their union not only because duty dictated that she should. She longed for the same passion in her own marriage that her parents had, believing with all her heart she could achieve it with the man she'd chosen as her consort. As he promised, he tried to make their first joining as comfortable as possible for her, hoping they would both come to enjoy this new way of expressing their deep affection for each other as the years passed.

"We will make love often and I will bear you many children," she informed him later as she lay in his arms.

"Is this the sultana speaking or my bride?"

She raised her head, her eyes meeting his. "In our private quarters I am your wife. When Mama and Papa were wed, she told him she wanted their marriage to have three things: intimacy, honesty and respect. I would like for ours to be the same."

"It will be my rose," he assured her with a kiss.

"Will you make love to me again, husband?"

"As often as you wish," he murmured. "It was not…unpleasant for you?"

"At first when you breached me, but I was expecting it. Mama said that a woman learns to enjoy lovemaking if she has a lover that is willing to fulfill her desires as well as his own and…." She blushed. "You pleased me very much."

He kissed her again. "I never want to disappoint you in anything."

"We will have disagreements my love. It is normal for a marriage. But I do not want either of us to go to sleep angry."

"Nor do I, my rose."

She reached for him and kissed him ardently. "Now then my consort, your sultana would like you to make love to her again."

It was a command he was more than willing to obey.

The following morning a young serving girl tiptoed into the royal bedchamber.

"My lady sultana, Your Highness," she called softly.

Jiminy opened one eye. "What is it?"

"Forgive me Your Highness but we must collect the sheets."

"W….What?" He sat up. "What for?"

The sultana stirred beside him. "Jiminy, darling, what's the matter?"

"Why must they collect the sheets?"

Raihana giggled from beneath the covers.

Jiminy scowled at her. "I do not find this amusing."

She climbed out of bed. "Come along Jiminy."

"I will not parade around starkers for everyone in our palace to see!" he said angrily.

"Turn your back please, Tara."

"Yes, my lady sultana."

Raihana yanked the bloodstained sheet off the bed and handed it to the servant while Jiminy covered himself with one of the blankets. "Take this to the valide. She will know what must be done."

"Yes, my lady sultana."

"Now then," Jiminy said once they were given their privacy. "What is this about collecting the sheets?"

"It's tradition darling. They must be displayed for all to see."

His eyes widened with horror. "They're stained."

"Yes."

"With blood!"

"Yes."

"Your blood!"

"I'm aware of that."

"They'll…they'll think I assaulted you!"

The sultana grinned. "No, what it will mean my darling husband is that you've done your duty and that no trickery was involved."

"Did your mother have to endure this?"

"She did but she was expecting it."

"It is a barbaric custom; one I would not want our daughters to endure!" he protested.

"I'm afraid I cannot change it Jiminy. I want no prospective grooms of our daughters questioning their virtue."

"And does it not trouble you that there is no method to prove a man's virtue other than his word?"

"It does, and you make an excellent point my darling. We will have to discuss it further before a law is passed." She crawled out of bed. "But for now, let our people see that we have done our duty." She smiled. "And soon I hope to be carrying our heir."

The bloodstained sheet was draped over the palace balcony to the dismay of the newly crowned Prince Consort when they stepped out onto it to greet the people.

"Barbaric custom!" he grouched to his father-in-law.

"I did warn you dearie," he giggled.

"Papa, don't tease him!"

"People of Azarajan!" Belle announced once the crowd grew quiet. "Bear witness that our sultana Raihana and Prince Jiminy have done their duty and consummated their union. Our sultana has gone to her husband's bed a true maid and our prince has gone to his wife's bed as pure as she in accordance with her predecessor's decency laws. And now, join me and my lord the Vizier as we ask the Goddess that this joyous union bring forth many heirs for our nation!"

"They don't need to ask. I intend to," Raihana whispered in her husband's ear. "Thank you all," she said aloud. "Let our union be the beginning of a new golden age for the people of Azarajan. There is much work to be done, many wounds that still need to be healed but we can heal them together, my people. We thank you all and we will see you again very soon!"

The couple held their first receiving two weeks after their wedding, the valide and vizier in attendance, merely witnessing the event. All decisions regarding the cases presented would be made by the sultana and her consort. All of them were surprised when two men entered the throne room, one of them bearing the standard of Avacour. The sultana rose from her throne, her azure eyes glittering with rage.

"How dare you sully my court with your foul presence!" she snarled.

One of the men smiled. "I am Count DeBoer, ambassador to the Avacourian court. His Highness King Philippe wishes to resume the alliance between our two countries that was forged during the reign of the late sultan, your brother."

"The people of Azarajan will not ally themselves with those who keep their fellow human beings in bondage. And I have not forgotten that the late sultan plotted to send ME to your king for his amusement. Never! You may take this message back to your sovereign: there will never be another alliance between our nations in my lifetime or the lifetimes of my heirs and I do not want to see any of you on my soil again! Am I understood?"

"You will regret this, girl."

"I think not. You and your king will be the ones filled with regret when you find you have no allies among the seven kingdoms and your people seek freedom elsewhere. And they will. You cannot oppress them forever. Remove them," she commanded Robin and Jefferson.

"Come on, off you go!" Robin said with a smirk as he and Jefferson led the furious representatives away.

"The gall of them," Jiminy muttered from his own seat.

"The lady Merida of the Marsh," the majordomo announced.

A tall ginger haired woman stepped forward, curtsying. "My lady sultana, Your Highness," she began, smiling at Jiminy. Beside him Raihana seethed with rage and jealousy. How dare this peasant flirt with her consort!

"Welcome Lady Merida," Jiminy greeted warmly, stunned that his bride hadn't greeted their guest herself first. "What brings you to our court?"

"Thank you, Your Highness. My lady sultana, I come to ask for your assistance with a bit o'trouble I'm having with the people of the Marsh. They believe this court no longer cares for them. It's been some time since anyone has visited us, and I am asking that you come to the Marsh to reassure them that we are not as alone as they feel. Your Highness, have you a desire to visit your birthplace?"

He laughed. "I confess I do. There were many places in the Marsh that I enjoyed being in."

The sultana's hands gripped the arms of her chair, furious that the lady Merida had taken too much of an interested in her consort rather than the issue at hand and her consort seemed to be taken with her, listening attentively as she spoke, even laughing and joking with her as they talked about his early childhood in the Marsh.

"We will make a progress to the Marsh soon," she said. "Good day Lady Merida."

"Thank you, my lady sultana."

"That will be all for today," Raihana said coldly, glaring at Jiminy as she walked out of the throne room. "I will be in the bath!"

Jiminy stared after her, mouth agape, wondering how he'd offended her. It had been wonderful seeing his childhood friend Merida again but that was all they'd ever been until his parents began travelling across the realms. He didn't understand his bride's attitude toward her at all. He shook his head and followed her out to the bathhouse. She was standing in the pool with her back to him.

"Raihana."

There was no reply.

"Are you going to stand in there pouting like a child all day?" Jiminy demanded crossly. His response was a snort. "Very well then. I will return to the palace and wait until the child decides to go home to her mama and my wife returns."

She turned around and glared at him.

"How dare you speak to me that way! I am your wife and your sultana!"

"Then act like it! Stop pouting and talk to me. What have I done to upset you? Was it because I agreed with Merida of the Marsh? Her arguments were valid."

"I should have scratched her eyes out, the wretch!" Raihana snarled.

"For what offense? Speaking her mind?"

"You are my husband! Mine! And I will not have the women of this court coming here under the guise of having a problem to be addressed so that they can tempt you with their whore tricks! Did you not see the way she was looking at you or were you too busy staring at her bosom to notice?"

"I did no such thing and you were jealous?" He couldn't help laughing at such an outrageous accusation.

"Are you laughing at me?"

"No, my rose, I am just shocked that you think I would break my wedding vows." He sat down. "What more must I do to convince you I love you and only you? And Merida is an old friend but there was nothing between us!"

She swam over to him, her head bowed in shame. "You've done more than enough. I know many in this realm still see me as a child, too young to be a bride or a sultana. Why was it easier for Mama to win their respect while I must struggle to do so?" she asked while he undressed.

"My rose, our people love and respect you more than you know," he said when he climbed into the pool and took her in his arms, caressing her scarred cheek tenderly. "You've suffered with them and you've fought with them. They haven't forgotten that. And couples do not enter a marriage knowing everything. We will learn through the years and I am not saying it will be perfect. We will disagree on issues, but we will talk them out. Isn't that what you told me on our wedding night?"

She laid her head on his chest. "I am sorry darling. I was not thinking clearly when I should have, and I am grateful your intervention prevented a disaster. I do not want my people thinking I cannot make sound decisions when I believe the women at court are potential rivals for my consort's affections."

"My conscience was troubled when the Duke of Avalon sought an audience with you. I was rather tempted to boot him out of the palace for leering at my bride."

Raihana giggled. "Oh, I see I am not the only one who gets jealous at times!"

"I am able to control myself….most of the time."

"Then I will do the same." She wrapped her arms around his neck and drew his head down. "Shall we retire early, my darling?"

He smiled. "Yes, we should." He picked her up in his arms and carried her out of the bathhouse, thanking the goddess her parents had a passageway installed that led to the royal bedchamber. "We are not to be disturbed," he called out to smirking Emma and Bae waiting on the other side of the wall as he passed them on the way to their bedchamber. He kicked the door open with his foot and they collapsed on the bed in each other's arms.

"Make love to me Jiminy," she commanded softly.

"No, my lady sultana wife, I would like you to make love to me," he said and rolled over, pulling her on top of him.

"Is this my consort speaking or my husband?" she teased.

"Both. Shall I make it a royal command?" he asked huskily.

"Yes," she whispered. "But this is the first time you've asked me..."

"Because I knew you were too nervous to try this lesson from the Garden, my rose but we've been wed long enough that you should no longer fear anything we do in the privacy of our bedchamber."

She leaned down and kissed him hotly. "Oh no, my darling, I could never fear you."

"Take me to Paradise, my rose."

It was a command she was more than willing to obey.

Two months later the sultana fled from the throne room during receiving to her chambers, leaning over a bowl as she was overcome by nausea. The consort raced to their chambers with Bae, Jefferson and Emma at his heels, all of them worried that sultana was in danger.

"Raihana, Raihana!" Jiminy cried frantically, pounding on their chamber doors. "Open it!" he commanded.

Bae and Jefferson threw their weight against the doors and ran inside, hearing the sultana moan in agony. "Your Highness, quickly!"

They discovered the sultana on the floor curled up in the fetal position clutching her belly.

"Raihana, my rose! What is it?" Jiminy asked worriedly, taking her into his arms.

"Emma, bring the lady Regina to our chambers...Jiminy...help me into bed," she pleaded softly. The consort carried his wife over to their bed and laid her down gently. Moments later Regina arrived.

"Leave us. I must examine the sultana in private," she instructed.

"I will stay!" the consort said firmly.

"Jiminy, darling please wait out in the hall. I will send for you when we are finished," Raihana pleaded.

"My rose..."

"Shall I make it a royal command?"

"Oh, very well!" he groaned in frustration and threw up his hands. "Fetch the vizier and the valide," he commanded once he was out in the hall with the others. "If I cannot talk sense into my wife I know they will!"

Emma giggled. "She is a stubborn one as you know, Your Highness."

"I have asked her repeatedly to be examined. She has been having these bouts of nausea every morning for the last two weeks but does not believe they are caused by a poison or ill prepared meals. I have also had the kitchen staff questioned on several occasions."

The guards looked at each other, all of them having their suspicions regarding the sultana's condition. She and her consort would often retire early, their nighttime guards asked to take their positions at the end of the hall and the servants instructed not to wake them until late in the morning.

In the bedchamber Regina smiled at her patient once she finished examining her.

"Your suspicions are correct my lady sultana. You are with child."

The sultana placed her hand on her abdomen. "I suspected it when my moon link was broken...but it has never been normal as you know. And Mama always said there were certain days and nights that a woman was most fertile..." She blushed. "Please ask my husband to come in. He is probably pacing the hall and has sent for my parents to talk sense into me."

Regina opened the door and poked her head out, chuckling when she spotted the consort waiting impatiently with the vizier and valide. "She will see you now."

"Oh, thank the Goddess! Raihana, my rose, what is it? What's wrong?"

She took his hand and placed it on her belly. "I am with child darling," she said softly.

"You are? You are! Oh, that is wonderful!" he cried, covering her face with kisses.

"I love you Jiminy," she whispered.

"And I love you my rose."

All the realm was celebrating, looking forward to the impending birth of the heir to the throne. As her pregnancy progressed, Regina began to suspect that sultana would give birth to several children as her mother had before her. There were many times when the sultana was worried, fearing that history would repeat itself, especially in the final days of her pregnancy.

"Our children will love and support each other, we will make certain of that my rose," Jiminy reassured her. "I do not understand where Rolando's cruelty originated but it will not pass on to our children. Perhaps our heirs will rule Azarajan together."

"A joint monarchy as we have and my parents before me? It will be risky if we have many heirs Jiminy."

"We will have many years to plan for it."

"I do not want to pass my crown onto our child on its twentieth birthday. I intend to rule Azarajan until my last breath," Raihana said firmly. "I love my father dearly, but I felt it unwise for him to proclaim my brother his heir so soon." She sighed. "Some may feel he made a similar mistake naming me."

"No darling. You earned the crown in your own right. That is the difference. Our heir or heirs must do the same by putting the needs of our people above their own as we've been doing." He patted her belly affectionately.

"I can only hope I…ohhhhhhh!"

"Raihana! What is it darling?" Jiminy asked frantically.

"S…Send for….Regina….it is time!" she gasped.

He attempted to pick her up. She shook her head. "Mama…said….I should walk."

"Walk? Are you mad? You are in pain."

"It…will…help…"

The couple shuffled down the hall to the valide's chambers. "My lady valide, we must find the lady Regina," Jiminy said quickly.

"You go. I will get Raihana into bed. Come darling." Belle said softly.

"Ohhhh Mama…..you….you told me it was painful but…my goddess!" Raihana cried.

"Sometimes it gets easier with age darling but not always."

"That…is not….very comforting Mama!" Raihana panted.

Jiminy found Regina in her quarters with Robin and Roland. "My lady…I am sorry to interrupt…but the sultana's labors have started."

Regina leaned down and kissed her small stepson's cheek. "I will be back later."

"Bye Mama Regina," he said softly.

Robin was chuckling. "And I will get you a pint of ale Your Highness. You'll need it."

"No getting him drunk Robin," Regina scolded.

"Would I do that?" he inquired innocently.

She shook her head, "It has been known. Go on," she chuckled. When she entered the royal bedchamber the valide had the sultana in her bed. The young mother was sobbing, her body wracked with pain. "You must keep up your strength my lady sultana. It may be hours before your first child is born."

"Bloody hell!" she cursed.

The consort cringed in horror every time he heard his wife screaming in pain and shouting curse words in every language she knew while he stood outside the royal bedchamber waiting with Robin and the vizier, shocked that none of them were directed at him.

"My lord, how much longer?" he moaned. "I cannot bear hearing her in so much pain and unable to do anything but simply stand here and pace!"

"It is different for every woman Jiminy. Belle was in labor most of the day with her and Rolando. Our little Maurice came much sooner and we all know Aminah did not wait long before she made her grand entrance.

"I should be in there! Why were you permitted to attend the births of your children and I am not?" the consort raged.

"Tis better you stay out here. My daughter is a spirited one and I'd rather not see my son-in-law with a black eye."

"We've never raised a hand to each other!" the consort protested.

"Still, I'd rather not take the risk," Rumple giggled.

Jiminy shook his head and rolled his eyes.

Raihana lay in her bed exhausted. "Something is wrong with my babies," she sobbed. "Why will they not come?"

"My labors lasted nearly a day with you darling," Belle murmured. "Were you having mild pains this morning?"

The sultana nodded. "But that has happened before, and I ignored them."

"Your first birthing is often the longest my lady sultana," Regina said softly.

"Ohhhh it needs to end now!"

The valide and Regina attempted to make the sultana as comfortable as possible, but she was exhausted and frustrated by her lack of progress.

"My lady sultana! One of the children is ready to be born. Push!"

Gathering her strength, the sultana grunted and pushed hard, feeling the baby moving within her. "Very good my lady sultana. Again!"

"Ohhhh….is it done?"

"It is indeed my lady sultana." The healer rose to her feet holding the baby in her arms. "You have a daughter!"

"Farah," Raihana murmured, holding out her arms.

"Just a moment darling. She must be cleaned, and you still have another child to deliver yet," Belle said softly while she tended to her granddaughter. "Oh, you are a beautiful child little Farah, so much like your mama when she was a babe in my arms." The baby had inherited her mother's azure eyes and fair skin and her father's ginger hair.

An hour later Raihana's pains began again. Though she was exhausted and longed to see her firstborn, she gathered her strength once more to give birth to her second child, expecting a son but to her surprise Regina held a second daughter in her hands.

"Twins," the sultana murmured.

"Have you decided on another name for another daughter, darling?" Belle inquired softly.

"Jiminy and I agreed on many names for our children. I promised him on our wedding night that I would give him many children. Her name shall be Zara."

"A lovely name!" The valide and Regina cleaned both daughters, wrapped them in blankets and handed them to the sultana. The young mother gazed down at her children, her eyes filled with tears, astounded that the many nights of pleasure she and her consort shared had created the two beautiful babies she held in her arms.

"Mama, please have someone fetch….ohhhhh!" Raihana screamed a short time later. "Regina...I feel it...another child is coming!"

Belle took the babies from her daughter's arms. "My goddess Regina! Three!"

"My lady sultana I know you are exhausted, but you must gather your strength one last time," Regina pleaded.

"Oh, I hope it is the last…for now…" the sultana murmured, pushing with the last ounce of her strength.

"Congratulations my lady sultana! You have another daughter!" Regina announced.

"Adira," Raihana lay back against the pillows panting heavily. "Mama….I must see my husband…please."

"Let us finish tending to you and my grandchildren first darling," Belle advised.

An hour later the doors to the royal bedchamber opened and to the mens' shock Regina, Belle and Emma emerged carrying the princesses in their arms. "You have three daughters Your Highness," Belle announced proudly.

"T…Three? But…but…how?" Jiminy gasped.

"I suspected once the sultana's size was larger than normal that she carried more than one child, but I was not certain how many," Regina spoke up.

"She…she also thought we were having at least two children but three! Oh, the goddess has indeed blessed us! May I see my daughters?" the consort wept joyfully.

The women moved closer and Jiminy pulled back the blankets to gaze down at three beautiful babies that had inherited their mother's fair skin, azure eyes and had small patches of ginger hair as he did.

"And my wife?"

"She wants to see you. We'll bring my grandchildren with us. Come along Rumple," Belle instructed her own husband.

The sultana lay on the bed, her back propped up by several pillows. Jiminy leaned down and kissed her softly.

"Have you seen them….our daughters?" Raihana asked tiredly.

"They're beautiful my rose! As beautiful as their mama!" He sat on the bed beside her. "This is the most precious gift you could have ever given me."

She laid her head on his shoulder. "They are the second most precious gift you could have given me, my darling. The first was your love."

"You will always have my love, my rose…in this life and the next!" he vowed and kissed her again. Regina and the valide placed two of the sultana's daughters in her arms and the third in her father's.

"And what names have you chosen for our granddaughters?" Rumple inquired softly.

The sultana met her husband's. "Farah, Zara and Adira," she said softly.

"You have heard the sultana. Go out into the streets and make the announcements. The Goddess has blessed your sultana and her consort with three beautiful princesses named Farah, Zara and Adira," Belle instructed Henry, Grace, Roland and Pinocchio. "Also report that sultana is well and will make her public appearance as soon as she's rested."

"I…will make it now," Raihana murmured. "And Mama, Jiminy and I would like to give the news to the people ourselves."

The valide and vizier stared at their daughter in shock as did the consort.

"Darling, you've just given birth. You need to rest!" Jiminy protested.

"Yes, you do, dearie," Rumple agreed.

"Bring me a chair and take me outside," Raihana demanded of Emma. Belle shook her head. Their daughter had inherited their stubbornness, but she was even more so. She brought a chair into the room and the consort helped his exhausted bride into it. Robin and Bae carried the chair bearing the sultana out onto the patio with the valide, vizier and consort holding the first three heirs to the throne in their arms. "People of Azarajan!" Raihana called out tiredly once the crowd grew quiet. "The Goddess has blessed us many times this night. I give you the first of our heirs, Princess Farah in the arms of her father, my beloved consort Jiminy. The Princess Zara in the arms of my mother, my valide and Princess Adira in the arms of my father, my vizier!"

"Long live the princesses Adira, Zara and Farah!" they chanted.

Jiminy glanced down at his wife struggling to keep herself awake in her chair. "Thank you all! Now the sultana must rest but we will see all of you again very soon. We bid you good night!"

Once the crowd began to disperse the consort swung her up in his arms and carried her back to their bedchamber. "Must you continue to be so difficult, Raihana?" he demanded when he laid her down on the bed. "You will stay in this bed and rest or by the goddess I will stay in here with you to make certain that you do."

The sultana smirked. "I cannot think of a better reason to want to stay in bed and we will make love again when Regina tells me I am able to do so."

"Wanton!" he teased and kissed her.

"Come to bed darling," she said sleepily. He crawled into bed beside her and drew her into his arms as they drifted off to sleep.

Six months after the births of the princesses the royal couple went on another progress throughout the realm. The people were delighted to see the royal family, many of them surprised that the sultana was with child again, intending to keep her promise to her consort that she would bear him many children but neither of them expected her to become pregnant so soon after the birth of their daughters. They both wished for sons this time and by the time they returned to the palace they would need to acquire several more caravans to hold the gifts people gave them for their children. It reminded Raihana of many of her parents progresses as she was growing up. While she was visiting a village in the lowlands she surprised an elderly woman by showing her the cloth doll the woman gifted her with when she was ten years old.

"I knew someday you would be the one to rule," she said softly. "Even as a young girl you cared for us when your brother did not." The woman took the sultana's hand in hers. "And that goodness in you will pass on to your children."

"That is all I want peace in this land and in my family," the sultana confessed.

"You've brought the golden age back again."

"And I intend for it to stay beyond my reign," she vowed.

She also honored her promise that she would visit the Marsh, the land where her consort spent so much of his early childhood with the lady Merida acting as their guide through a tour of the forests. "Many o' these parts have been ravaged by the nobles wantin' more castles for themselves," Merida explained while she rode beside their caravan on her horse Bran.

"They don't need any more castles!" Jiminy fumed.

"I agree. One home is sufficient," Raihana said softly. "The only reason why we have two palaces is because they were built during my father's reign but that will be enough. You will be our representative here in the Marsh Lady Merida and I want you to inform me immediately if anyone disobeys my laws forbidding the ravaging of these lands for luxury."

"I will my lady sultana."

"And your crops are thriving?" Jiminy inquired.

"Yes, Your Highness. Now. Before the royal army was takin' everything we had when we couldn't afford the taxes."

"Taxes are necessary Lady Merida but they should be set at an amount that our people can afford to pay," Raihana said. "I am assuming you are referring to the taxes enforced during my brother's reign?"

"Yes, my lady sultana."

The nobles were less than pleased that they could no longer build more fine houses to showcase their wealth and several of them were put on trial for abuses against their servants, the punishments ranging from imprisonment in the Dark Castle to having their goods forfeited to the crown with portions of them being given to the servants themselves or their families. The sultana and her consort had been visiting Duke MacTavish when they witnessed such behavior firsthand.

The duke held up a crystal goblet, beaming with pride. "I just purchased these from the finest glass work house in Agrabah. A glass for their majesties!" he commanded the young girl attending them. She walked over to them carrying a tray holding two glasses filled with wine, so nervous to be in the presence of the sultana and her consort that the glass she intended to give to the sultana slipped out of her hands and shattered on the floor, spilling wine on the sultana's dress.

"What have you done you daft cow!" MacTavish hollered.

"It was an accident," Jiminy said softly.

The duke ignored him. "Do you know how much they cost, you chit?" He jumped out of his seat and backhanded her.

"Guards! Seize him!" Raihana commanded. Robin and Bae came forward and pulled the duke away from the terrified girl, securing his arms behind his back.

The sultana picked up the tray of glasses and dropped each one on the floor, glaring at her prisoner. "You would DARE to strike a woman in MY presence over pieces of glass?"

"Those were expensive!"

"And they are worth more to you than a human life?" The duke refused to answer her. "Your silence will suffice. Prepare him for transport to Arcadia and bring the rest of the household staff to me, Emma. My lord duke if I am given evidence that you have been cruel to your staff you will be punished according to the law. Take him away."

The consort helped the terrified girl into a chair. "Has he done this before?" he inquired gently. "Do not be afraid. You can tell us."

She nodded.

"Has he done more? Please, the truth now. You have nothing to fear from him."

"He...he...he makes me come to his bed," the girl wept.

"He has taken your maidenhead through violence?"

She nodded again through her tears. "I did not wish to...I wanted to save myself for a proper marriage according to the decency laws but the master...he said he would keep my family together if I came to his bed and gave him pleasure. But I find no pleasure in what he makes me do!"

"Nor will he when he faces my judgement," Raihana said angrily. "You will accompany us back to Arcadia and present your evidence."

"Yes, my lady sultana."

While the consort tended to her Snow and David brought the rest of the household staff into the dining room to be questioned by the couple, outraged by what they saw and heard. All the servants were malnourished and showed signs of being physically abused by their master and mistress and may of the women had been raped. The lady of the house was also taken into custody, the sultana making certain that their young children did not witness the event.

"What of the children, my rose?"

"We will search for a family member to care for them but if none can be found they will come to court with us as our wards."

They encountered similar situations in other noble households, the sultana troubled that her father and mother were unaware of such atrocities being committed during their own reign as well as Rolando's and was determined to prevent any further incidents. The vizier and valide were pleased with their daughter's achievements within the first two years of her reign, building a reputation for being a firm but fair ruler as well as a fertile one, providing the realm with not one but five heirs, her twin sons Jasper and Kaiden born ten months after their sisters. They also had several wards living in the palace, children who were orphaned or their parents were imprisoned in the Dark Castle for heinous offenses and the wounds the former sultan had inflicted on the country were slowly healed.


	8. Future In Safe Hands

Five years later

A large group of children lay on a stack of pillows in the royal library wrapped up in their favorite blankets while the Prince Consort, the Grand Vizier Rumplestiltskin, Geppetto and Pinocchio performed a show with puppets, the voices of the characters being provided by them, the sultana and the valide. Among them were the sultana and Consort's children; the triplets Farah, Zara and Adira and their twin sons, Jasper and Kaidan along with the sultana's sister Amirah and the offspring of their adopted siblings, palace servants and people in the city as well as the royal wards. All children were welcomed at story time regardless of class as they had been in the valide's time as sultana and their parents were at ease knowing the sultana's royal guard would protect them as if they were their own children.

"The land of dreams beckons my dears," the valide said softly. Small voices protested from beneath their nests of covers. The consort and Vizier chuckled, the voices belonging to the royal children.

"Now, now, dearies, we will have story time tomorrow night," Rumple scolded gently.

The sultana rose slowly then cried out in pain.

"Mama...it is time!" she gasped.

Jiminy rushed to his wife's side and attempted to lift her into his arms. She shook her head.

"I need to walk Jiminy," she reminded him. "You are behaving as if this is our first child, not our sixth!"

"Darling we must get you to your chambers," the valide said gently. "Rumple...?"

"I will stay with the children, my kadin."

Jiminy draped the sultana's arm over his shoulders. "Must you be so stubborn, my rose? Let me carry you."

"I will walk as I have in the past," she insisted. "Oh...this child of ours has my temperament!"

"All of our offspring have your temperament," he joked.

"You have been cross when the occasion calls for it, husband."

"I do not enjoy it Raihana, especially when I must be with the children."

"Mama, Mama is the baby coming?" Jasper and Kaiden demanded.

"Soon. Now go with Grandpapa back to the library," their father commanded softly.

"But we wanna see it born."

"You certainly do not!" Jiminy protested. "Not until you are older and they are our grandchildren!"

"Darlings...listen to your father...go back with Grandpapa."

"Mama, why's the floor all wet?" Jasper pointed to a puddle at his mother's feet.

"Come along dearies," Rumple urged, leading the children back to the library.

"Raihana now is not the time to be stubborn," her mother said firmly. "Your waters have broken."

Henry and Grace were completing their hourly patrol of the palace when the valide stopped them. "Send word throughout the country that the sultana is about to give birth and ask the ladies Nova and Maya to pray to the Goddess for a healthy prince or princess," the valide commanded.

"Yes my lady valide! Come Henry! A long ride awaits us!"

The consort followed his wife, Regina and valide into the royal bedchamber.

"I will not lie here for hours this time!" the sultana declared angrily. "This baby will be born quickly!"

"Surely you are not trying to make the Goddess herself obey a royal command, are you?" Jiminy chuckled.

"If I must," Raihana declared stubbornly.

As news of the impending birth was announced throughout the realm, the crowds flocked to the palace to catch their first glimpse of the royal couple's sixth child. The sultana and her consort had yet to declare one of their children their heir and all of them were equally loved by their parents and their subjects. In her bechamber the sultana seemed pleased that the goddess was willing to obey her command and after four hours of labor with her consort at her side the sultana delivered her sixth child, the third son she and Jiminy wished for.

"What shall his name be my lady sultana?"

The sultana glanced over at her husband. He nodded his head.

"His name shall be Rumplestiltskin Jiminy of the House of Gold," she declared, cradling the baby to her breast. He had a small patch of his father's ginger hair and sapphire blue eyes.

The vizier was moved to tears. "Thank you poppet," he sniffled. The doors to the bedchamber opened and an impatient Aminah sauntered in followed by her nieces and nephews.

"Wanna see the baby!" she declared.

"Aminah!" the valide scolded. "Did we not teach you how to knock and when it was appropriate to enter a person's bedchamber?"

"But we wanna see the baby!" she insisted and jumped onto the bed. "Why's he all red, Raihana? He get burnt?"

The sultana laughed. "No Aminah. All babies look like this when they're first born."

"He's red like our hair!" Zara exclaimed as she and her siblings climbed onto the bed to get a closer look at their baby brother.

"Now, now don't crowd Mama," Jiminy chastised gently.

"Aminah come down from there and give your nieces and nephews a bit of room," Rumple said and picked up his daughter. She scowled at him.

"But, Papa!"

"We will see the baby later."

"Jiminy, help me into my chair. We must present Rumple to the people," the sultana said softly.

"Raihana, must you do this now? You should rest first."

She shook her head. They are waiting."

"Just once I wish you would heed my advice in this matter," he grumbled. "Come on, we need to get ready to go outside and see the people," he said to his children. The children loved going out in public and meeting the people, especially the other children whom they played with on a daily basis. Once everyone was ready, they went out to the balcony to face a crowd of thousands waiting to see their newest heir. With her husband supporting her she stepped forward with her newborn son in her arms.

"People of Azarajan I give you our son, Rumplestiltsin Jiminy!" she announced.

Rumple felt a tug on his arm and glanced down to see Prince Selim, the son of Aladdin and Jasmine standing beside him. He had been sent to Azarajan to visit with them while his parents were on a progress.

"Someday I'm gonna make Aminah my kadin!" he declared. The princess scowled at him.

"You think so! Not gonna get married 'less I'm in love like Raihana so if I don't love you, not gonna be your kadin!"

"You're gonna love me," the prince said confidently. His response was a snort.

Raihana giggled from where she was standing. "My goddess she sounds like me!"

"Thorny roses can be tamed darling," Jiminy whispered and kissed his wife.

"Oh yes we can…" she murmured, returning his kiss with equal passion.

"Our future is in safe hands my kadin," Rumple whispered to Belle.

"Indeed it is," she murmured. They beamed with pride at their eldest child and the wonderful family she had, the future of Azarajan. The new golden age had begun and they were confident that it would last well beyond their daughter's reign.


End file.
